[only1percent]

Saying "no" to a consent search won't keep the cop from searching it if he wants. It will make anything he finds while so doing inadmissable in court. If he >doesn't< find anything, well, you may have just gotten a lottery ticket, since you can sue for civil rights violations.

[brianl703]

That's why cops who are just going on fishing expeditions won't search if consent isn't given (if they're smart and realize that going forward increases their chances of having to find a new career when the department learns he just cost them a big chunk of change...)