No, Really, That Is Not Racial Profiling, At All

Had a call from a potential client who was busted for having something in their car they were not legally supposed to have.  Yes, they knew they were not supposed to have it and they knew it was there.

Of course the person claimed the whole stop and subsequent discovery started because the cops were racially profiling them whole they were driving in Pontiac.

The arresting agency is the Oakland County Sheriff's Department, which is a pretty solid department that doesn't play around, so that claim is rather unlikely.

Well, let's get some details, so maybe we can suppress it if their claim is really true, so I ask how it was that the sheriffs happened to pull them over. But, I'm rather skeptical.

My skepticism is justified.

They were pulled over because the car had no license plates or tags. As in none, zilch, nada, nothing, unregistered vehicle with no plate traveling at night in a not-so-good area of Pontiac.  

Even better, after the stop, sheriffs asked do you have anything illegal inside the vehicle I should be aware about, and the potential client said "Yes I have ....".

That's just not racial profiling, it's called being felony stupid, and that's a perfectly good stop and subsequent search and seizure.

Yes, a lot of criminals really do say yes when asked if they've got something illegal on them during a stop and this one admits they did say that.

Gotta wonder about the thought process of someone who knowingly has possession of something illegally, which possession of such item illegally is a Five Year Felony, and who figures that the best way to go rolling about town is in a car with no license plates with said illegal item inside, and then quickly admits to it when asked.

This is also not the first time potential client has been caught with such illegal item in pretty much a similar way previously.  Kinda slow learner, really.

They don't call 'em stupid criminals for nothing. 

Potential client is unhappy as I state that's a darn valid reason for the sheriffs to pull over the car, and a valid subsequent search and seizure after the clients answer to the question.  I state I would not try to defend this based on a claim of racial profiling as there's no ethical way to do so based on the facts.

I go on to explain the chance of the evidence getting thrown out is about zilch and the case is really about damage control and reducing the potential penalty, not getting off on an unsupportable claim of racial profiling.

Nope,  I'm so not getting retained on that one.

Hoffa Hunt Hops In A Hole

The Detroit Free Press: No evidence of a body found in Roseville driveway in search for Jimmy Hoffa

About every six years or so in recent times, the greater Detroit Area is home to a Hoffa Hunt, as yet another person claims to know the location from a now dead confidant.

Jimmy Hoffa the Teamster Union boss who disappeared in 1975 after heading off to meet some interesting people has never been found, and it looks like that's not about to change.

No evidence has been found of a body from samples taken this morning from a Roseville driveway in a search for Jimmy Hoffa's remains. The 4-inch core sample pulled out from six feet under a concrete slab was just a combination of clay and mud, Police Chief James Berlin. Results from analysis of that core sample and one more are expected back from Michigan State University on Monday, he said.

......

Berlin said the owner of the home around the time of Hoffa’s disappearance in the 1970s was a bookmaker with ties to members of Detroit-area organized crime, the alleged prime suspects in Hoffa’s disappearance.

Back in 2006 about $250,000 was spent digging up a farm in Milford based on the allegation that Hoffas was buried there. Now in 2012, they're checking under a Roseville driveway.

I'd suspect it is quite unlikely that Hoffa is under the driveway, but that just allows mystery fans to continue to speculate as to where he may have ended up, allowing the Greater Detroit Area Hoffa Hunt to continue.

Update (10/3/12): No evidence of Hoffa, nor the remains of any other individual was found.