New Felony: Having Empty Auto Compartments

[XLFD]

Norman Gurley, a southeastern Michigan resident was driving his car through northeastern Ohio, when he was pulled over for speeding.  Troopers noticed some non-standard wiring inside his car, got consent to search, and followed it back to his taillight compartment, which was empty.  There was exactly nothing there, nor was there any indication there had been anything there, no statement that there was going to be anything there in the future.  He is now facing felony charges due to a law passed in Ohio to make it illegal to have 'secret compartments' in one's vehicle. 

 

 

Does this sound crazy?  The new law-- Ohio Secret Compartment Law-- was passed recently to combat the presence of 'trap cars', vehicles used to transport drugs, guns or other contraband.  The Ohio legislature believed this was a sane response to combat those who try to transport 'controlled substances' hidden in secret compartments in vehicles.  But a quick perusal of the law's definition of "hidden compartment" shows one place where the law can be abused:

 

A bottle of aspirin in your glove compartment is a "hidden compartment", as is a lidded beverage cup in one of your car's beverage holders.  As are most of those groceries you put in your trunk or any container you may have in your purse or glove compartment.  In Ohio, unless you have every single thing outside of other containers and in the open for a traffic stop, you run the risk of being charged with a felony. 

The ACLU petitioned against the law when it was being mulled over because it gave almost carte blanche authority to police officers who make traffic stops to achieve a lower threshold of 'probable cause' to search, and allow a catchall felony for when they do.  It's a powerful intrusion into well-established Fourth Amendment rights.

That's what I believe has happened here.  Norman Gurley may be the criminal mastermind behind a drug trafficking cartel, but it is a lot more likely is that he has an older model car that developed electrical problems, and his homemade rewiring, sent to his rear taillight area, was made so that he could signal turns or legally drive at night. 

Without further ado, here is the article from WKYC, a news outlet that blithely reports the news as a good thing because it gets one more trap car off the road, and that Mr. Gurley would not have been able to be charged with anything without this new law that makes it a felony to have a taillight compartment stocked completely without any traces of controlled substances.  We are fortunate to have Ohio Troopers that somehow knew Norman Gurley's intent was to have this taillight compartment well stocked with controlled substances in the future.

 

  

For the first time in Northeast Ohio, state troopers made an arrest under the state's new "hidden compartment" law.

The bust happened yesterday on the turnpike in Lorain County.

They pulled over the driver for speeding, but then troopers noticed several wires running to the back of the car.

Those wires then led them directly to a hidden compartment.

Around 5 p.m. on Tuesday state troopers made the arrest under the law, which is meant to combat criminals who modify the inside of their car, allowing them to store drugs or weapons inside secret compartments, which can often only be accessed electronically.

 

"During the search, they noticed some components inside the vehicle that did not appear to be factory," says Lt. Michael Combs with State Highway Patrol.

Channel 3 was not able to shoot video of that car right now because it is being held as evidence, but we can tell you it's "hide" was accessed electronically, meaning you needed to perform a series of events in the correct order, and the the false floor seats or taillights would then pop out, revealing the secret compartment.

The giveaway this time?

"We figured it out and followed the wiring and we were able to get it open," says Combs.

Troopers arrested 30-year-old Norman Gurley, who didn't even have any drugs on him, but it didn't matter, because in Ohio, just driving a "trap" car is now a felony.

"Without the hidden compartment law, we would not have had any charges on the suspect," says Combs.

But because of this law, one more "trap car" is now off Northeast Ohio roads.

"We apparently caught them between runs, so to speak, so this takes away one tool they have in their illegal trade. The law does help us and is on our side," says Combs.

Gurley, who is from Michigan, was arraigned this morning and has since posted bond.

Combs says the "hide" in Gurley's car was big enough to carry several pounds of drugs.

 

http://www.wkyc.com/story/news/local/2013/11/20/trap-car-law/3655713/

[Willy]

This is just as silly as they come. Did the police ever consider using a drug sniffing dog to see if any drug odors were present?  It would seem to me that a trunk could be considered a "hidden area" if the lock was broken. How about the door panels or hubcaps? How about the tires?

 

[easymoney]

h tail light opens electronically, as shown in the video, there's not much doubt in my mind that is to store and hid  stuff.

[XLFD]

Easy,

The video of the taillight mechanism was not necessarily the same as what was on Gurley's vehicle, it was just based on what they were told, which some crafty video-maker created for the piece.  In the newscast, they said they were not allowed to view the actual vehicle or its secret compartment. 

The police said they could not show the vehicle because it was being held as evidence.  I think if it was clear evidence of being a 'trap car', they would love to show it.  Ergo, I believe the police are stretching the story a little, so they don't look 100% foolish.

[Willy]

What if someone purchased a used car with a secret compartment? How would they prove that they did not install it?   What if a person wanted a secret compartment in their car to protect money and valuables when traveling. Every time one of these types of laws is passed we all suffer a loss of our freedoms.

[AQUAMAN]

I think the judge and prosecutor are going to have a hard time enforcing and prosecuting this individual, as no contraband was ever found. It may be a sound law if they find the illegal substances, but if not, they are just spinning their tires for more lawsuits of illegal arrests. A loss of freedoms is right here, at least in this particular case imho.

[XLFD]

The legislators who made this crime had made the it a crime of intent, as can be seen when you read the A and B sections of that law (the other section C is the only non-intent portion, only applicable to already convicted drug traffickers of Ohio) so unless Mr. Gurley broadcasted that he plans to transport drugs in this compartment, can he be found guilty, if a strict interpretation of this law is used by the court.

If you have a secret compartment in your car, the answer to your question, Willy, is to avoid going through Ohio, and let their tourism board know about it when you decide to go around them.  This is just another great scheme for their gendarmes to make off with your property.

[XLFD]

An Update, as reported in Reason Magazine: 

Norman Gurley, a 30-year old black man, was pulled over on the Ohio Turnpike last week by the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Troopers detained Gurley while searching the car he was driving for narcotics. They didn't find any drugs in the car, but did find a secret compartment they say is used for transporting drugs—which has been a felony since 2012, and could land Gurley in prison for 18 months.

Not much happened in the actual preliminary hearing, with judge Thomas Januzzi binding the case over to the Lorain County Court of Common Pleas to be heard in front of a grand jury. But after the hearing, Gurley's attorney, Myron Watson, took time to provide further information about the case, leading to some surprising—or sadly, perhaps not-so-surprising—revelations.

First, police detained Gurley for several hours while they searched his car, according to Watson. This directly contradicts initial media reports that claimed police noticed the secret compartment right away: "Some really observant troopers noticed some wires running to the back of the car. Those wires then led them directly to a hidden compartment," reported WKYC's Erin Kennedy (emphasis added).

Second, Watson revealed that Gurley has "no criminal record whatsoever." His driver's license was valid, the plates on the car were up to date, and he has no history of crime—violent or otherwise.

These facts lead to the obvious question: Why did the police spend hours searching someone who doesn't have any criminal record?

Watson provided the answer to that question himself: "It was a questionable stop, to say the least. We believe there was racial profiling going on."

Adding insult to injury is the fact that the car Gurley was driving was a friend's, and that he claims to have no knowledge about the compartment.

Gurley has no criminal record, was driving a friend's car he didn't know could land him in a cage for 18 months, and given the fact that he lives out of state, had no knowledge about the eccentricities of Ohio law—though he surely is learning the hard way now.

And what of the arresting officers? Troopers claimed to have smelled "raw marijuana" but found nothing illegal in the car besides its secret compartment. They did find a misdemeanor amount of marijuana in the pocket of Gurley's passenger, but that was after they tore the car apart from roof to floor—after they found the secret compartment and made the arrests. If the smell of raw marijuana was so pungent in the first place, why weren't troopers able to tell that it was clearly coming from the passenger's pocket?

Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to ask the troopers who made the bust because they left while the hearing was taking place. Something, however, tells me that I wouldn't have received an answer anyway, because the arresting officer, Sgt. Neil Laughlin, wasn't exactly the friendliest person in the world.

Ken SilvaLaughlin and another trooper were meeting with Gurley and Watson before the hearing, so I decided to take out my camera to photograph Gurley with the people who arrested him and impounded his friend's car.

"Are you with the press?" the sergeant asked with an icy stare.

"Yes," I replied.

"Can I see your identification?"

"Am I being detained?" I asked. This really got him going.

"No, but you're interfering with our meeting."

"No I'm not."

Laughlin looked at the court clerk. "Who is he with?" he asked, jerking his thumb at me.

"He's with the media," said the clerk. Two Oberlin College students sitting behind me started laughing. Laughlin muttered something and turned away.

My interaction to the sergeant must have scored me points with the defense attorney, Watson, because after the hearing he and I had lengthy conversation.

"When (Sgt. Laughlin) was asking for your ID, I was thinking, 'Where is he going with this?'" said Watson. I just laughed and told him I felt safe with a civil liberties attorney close by.

I asked him his opinion on secret compartment law, and he said it's a disaster waiting to happen.

"It is unduly burdensome, opens up people to harassment from law enforcement, and gives officers the right to damage property when searching for such a compartment," he said. “There are all kinds of conceivable things, which aren’t illegal, that people might want to conceal while transporting.”

He and I talked about the facts laid out above, as well as the larger issue at hand: the right to privacy. Even ignoring the fact that the secret compartment law itself is a terrible policy, Watson said troopers shouldn't have had reason to enforce it anyway.

"This is a Fourth Amendment issue all the way," he said. "We're hoping that the jury will see that the officers didn't even have probable cause to search my client in the first place."

We exchanged phone numbers and shook hands before joking one more time about my incident with the trooper.

"C'mon, you of all people should know that democracy doesn't exist in the courtroom," I said.

"Yep, we live in a police state," he replied gravely.

Sadly, at least in Ohio, it appears as if Watson is correct.

[Jane]

so a subwoofer box would be an illegal compartment, especially if screwed to the floor, a rubbermaid container full of winter gear, or any other thing that is not a pile of crap laying out in a mess.

This law pisses me off. The whole 'drug war' pisses me off. The dipsh1t legislators who thought htis was a good law piss me off. America pisses me off. This country is going to hell.