Traffic Stop & Interrogation

Officer Miller was patrolling a highway known for drug trafficking when she observed a car traveling 85 mph in a 65 mph zone. She initiated a traffic stop. As she approached the driver's window, she smelled a strong odor of freshly burned marijuana coming from the car's interior. The driver, Dan, seemed unusually nervous and his hands were trembling.

Officer Miller asked Dan to step out of the vehicle. Citing the marijuana odor, she informed Dan that she was going to search the car. In the passenger compartment, she found nothing. She then used Dan's keys to open the trunk, where she found a locked briefcase. Without asking for consent or a key, Officer Miller used a tool from her patrol car to pry open the briefcase. Inside, she discovered a large quantity of counterfeit currency. Officer Miller immediately arrested Dan, placed him in her patrol car, and transported him to the police station.

At the station, Detective Russo took Dan to an interrogation room. Without providing Miranda warnings, Russo began questioning Dan about the counterfeit currency. After about 10 minutes of questioning, Dan said, "This is getting serious. Maybe I should talk to a lawyer." Russo replied, "A lawyer will just tell you to keep quiet, and that won't help you. If you cooperate with me now, I can talk to the prosecutor about being lenient." Dan then sighed and confessed to running a small-scale counterfeiting operation.