Originally, I was inclined not to comment further on Barry Cooper's "Never Get Busted" video without seeing the video first. .

However, after having read the following two blogs about Mr. Cooper's video, I did not wish to wait to see the video before addressing the following two issues here, particularly after having contacted and heard back from Mr. Cooper (as reprinted below) on these two issues:

- FlexYourRights reviewed the video, and shares my deep concern -- dissent, actually -- about Mr. Cooper's recommending rampant waiver of people's right to refuse a police "consent" search. Mr. Cooper's purported interest is in showing people how to conceal drug crimes, whereas my interest is in helping people know and exercise their Constitutional rights, whether or not they have anything to hide.

A person may be risking more than s/he realizes when consenting to a police search. I believe it is all too common for people in a car to throw their drugs and weapons (if they have any) into another passenger's or driver's area of the car when a traffic stop takes place. No matter how innocent the car's driver may be, consenting to a search risks the police finding contraband that someone else secretly left there...

See the rest of my comments at this blogposting:

http://tinyurl.com/ytyd4o

---
Jon Katz
Criminal Defense Lawyer for MD, DC & VA
MARKS & KATZ, LLC
Silver Spring, MD 20910, (301) 495-4300
Underdog Blog: markskatz dot com /justiceblog

I was stopped this week going through a east texas town close to Coopers home area. The officer said I failed to maintan a lane. Two lane traffic (I'm in a crew cab that takes up the full lane) in a construction zone where the lanes shift over and oncoming traffic is against a concrete barrier on the passenger side. Asked if I had been drinking (10:30 AM) had me do one test then asked if he could look in my truck. I said I am not going to consent to you searching . Boy did he get bent out of shape, and told me that made him think I was hiding something so he was going to call a dog in. Made me wait 30 minutes after a "pat down" search which he put is hands in all my pockets, even the empty ones. The dog came and scratched my passenger door up, they looked inside the truck, under the hood, and in the tool box but like I told him there wasnt any thing in the truck. He never said what he was searching for. Any way he implied I was being a smart ass by saying no and everytime I said no thats what would happen. Before I left he told me that this would happen everytime I come to his town. I would like to know how the help educate these east texas officers. Thats what happens when you say NO in east texas, I will ALWAYS SAY NO because it has got to change out here. Yes I need a lawyer. This officer pulled me over 3 weeks before for no turn signal in a driveway but decided he didnt have time. ???

Here's the Flex Your Rights page on responding to police misconduct. This stuff certainly isn't guaranteed to work, but it's the best advice I can give. Check it out.

Scott Morgan's posted comment above is wrong. He wrote:

"His only rationale is that a well-hidden stash could evade detection during the search,"

I don't think Scott had viewed my DVD at the time of that post. Scott's usual fairness is not being shown to me through this comment. My rationale is more than Scott told.

This is an excerpt from a popular review of my DVD found at windypundit.com. The following quote is in reference to the 3rd chapter of my video. Mark Draughn writes:

"This chapter also has what's probably the most controversial piece of advice: Don't refuse the officer's request to search your car. That goes against everything I've ever read. However, on reflection, Cooper's argument isn't totally insane: As former defense attorney Ken Lammers has pointed out many times on his blog, you don't really have any effective Fourth Amendment protection against a search anyway when you're in your car. By refusing to let a cop search your car, you've all but told him that you have something to hide. You could quickly find yourself surrounded by six cops and a drug-sniffing dog, all willing to spend as much time as it takes to find a reason to search your car without your permission. According to Cooper, you're better off hiding the drugs really well and letting the cop make a quick but unsuccessful search. That makes a kind of crazy sense, but I know people who've refused a search and the cop just went away."

SayingnoinEastTexas post above confirms what I said on my DVD..."If you refuse consent, cops come from everywhere, usually with a dog and search extensively. If your small stash is hidden really well, give consent and the cop will usually do a quick search and leave." If SayingnoinEastTexas will contact me through my site, I will make certain the officers involved are sued.

I produced a DVD that shouts aloud what cops think in secret not what people have been told for years by attorneys and good activists. The info told for years is accurate just as my DVD is accurate if viewers understand the story is being told through the lens of a cop.

So far, thousands of copies sold, only four returns on my guarantee and they were all cops except one.

It's good information.

Regards,

Barry N. Cooper
CEO/NeverGetBusted

u r guilty mr barry scott, guilty of realising you were causing more damage by tearing families apart than letting them keep they're pot! i applaud u, and all those fighting to ENHANCE peoples understanding of the laws(wrong/illegal:human rights), and 2 those who try 2 help others grow their own personal amount as i believe the grit/sand/glass/lead!! weed, is being laced by the government to create bad press 4 marajuana but hey thats another story all together

'peace n love all' jah

I just found this and I completely agree with refusing consent.
I think Barry is giving bad advice and I wish he would elaborate further on this.
I sent him an email when I seen his video with my argument that you should decline searches hoping he could reply with why hes advocating that.
He might have something there, I don't know... I'm the first to admit that im wrong.
But his reply to my email was shockingly rude and I lost quite a bit of respect for him (if it was actually him that sent the email)
I still think he's a cool guy for what he does, and thats the only thing i disagreed on.
For anyone who would like to read the 'just' of his response, here it is:

"I read your email and you're delusional with what is effective and what isn't.
Your kind is dangerous because you believe you know everything and any teaching which is the opposite of that is wrong.
And you should take the time to review the thread where FlexYourRights and a few other jealous crazy people attacked the same subject two years ago.
My film was their only competition and they trashed it out of jealousy.
It backfired on them and they lost a lot of support because of it.
Its my job to keep peeps from going to jail.
Refusing consent landed 800000 peeps in jail last year. The defense lawyers u listen to are part of the problem.
My advice keeps peeps out of the courtroom, it doesn't prepare them for the courtroom.
I tell ya what, tell what u told me to the hundreds of peeps who emailed me in the last two years advising my "give consent" advise worked for them and kept them out of jail.
Then talk to the hundreds of peeps who emailed me wanting a lawyer cause they refused consent and kops searched anyway.
I use what works on the street, not what's been repeated so many times that it's considered truth.
U r wrong on this one and we stand by our advice...many defense lawyers agree.
Keep your comments to yourself please. "

     I went to Mexico one time years ago for a week with three friends. Upon return to the US, the US customs at the Tijuana station said they wanted to search the vehicle. They did not ask for consent. They took all four of us into a building and bodily searched everyone. We were told to sit and wait while they searched the vehicle. About an hour later we were told we could leave and be on our way. Upon return to the parking lot we were greeted by the sight of our vehicle almost completely disassembled! Headliner pulled out, Carpet pulled out, Travel bags emptied and contents strewed about, Door panels pulled out, spare tire deflated and dismounted, etc. They found nothing because there was nothing there! when asked "Who's going to put our vehicle back together again", Their response was, "That's not our problem". It took the four of us about two hours to somewhat reassemble everything and be on our way. I sure as hell will never go to Mexico again! Those customs guys acted just like a bunch of Storm Troopers! And we have to pay taxes to support that kind of abuse?