Basketball fans in Texas and beyond might be familiar with NBA player, Taurean Prince. While traveling in this state last May, police pulled him over in a traffic stop. This ultimately led to a search of his car after a police officer requested him to step out of the vehicle. Following the search, the traffic stop escalated to an arrest that could have resulted in drug charges.
However, a recent update on this case indicated that the basketball star will not face drug charges in connection with the traffic stop. Prince’s attorney told reporters that criminal charges against his client were dropped due to a violation of search and seizure laws. During the traffic stop, the NBA player had reportedly told police that he was carrying guns in his vehicle after which they conducted a search and ran tests on a vape pen that was located inside the car, which tested positive for a minuscule amount of marijuana.
It is not illegal to transport guns by vehicle in Texas
The attorney noted that carrying a gun in Texas is not a crime. He also mentioned that the amount of marijuana claimed to have been found in the vaping device was less than a usable quantity. The traffic stop had reportedly been initiated because of an expired vehicle registration. A police officer conducting a search of a vehicle must do so in accordance with search and seizure laws and in keeping with personal rights that are protected under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
In this case, a grand jury declined to charge the basketball player for controlled substance possession. The prosecutors who had previously filed gun charges against him have since dropped those charges as well. For anyone facing similar legal problems in Texas, this case demonstrates the benefit of securing criminal defense support as soon as possible after an arrest.