Peter Griffin Research Paper

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Pages: 4

How would you feel if your fourth amendment rights that protect you from illegal search and seizures were violated? Allow me to introduce you to Peter Griffin, who had his rights disregarded during a traffic stop that occurred due to his erratic driving. The officer (Joe Swanson) searched his car because he believed he had probable cause, expecting to find a tiger. But, the question hanging in the air is, did he actually have the cause needed to pursue searching the car? I believe that Joe Swanson’s search and seizure was unconstitutional because there was no evidence beyond the traffic issue that there was anything illegal happening, Peter has the right to privacy, and there was no immediate threat to the Officer’s life. When Peter Griffin was originally stopped, there was no evidence that anything else that …show more content…
A concern that may be brought up by the defending Police Officer during/after the search, when said tiger was found, might be ‘I was in fear for my life.’ and ‘I had to put him in holding while I search his vehicle,’ therefore incriminating Peter even further than needed and casting him in a brighter light. An example quote found on ‘Oyez’ about the ‘Arizona v. Gant’ relates quite well to my case involving Peter Griffin, “The respondent, Rodney Gant, argues that the search of his vehicle violated his Fourth Amendment rights because, at the time of the search, he was secured in a supervised patrol car, with no possible access to his car, and therefore neither the safety of the officers nor the integrity of the evidence was in jeopardy.” Peter can benefit from this statement because it helps to prove that A) this isn’t the only time this has happened, and B) he had, in no way, endangered