How Much Information Can The Police Require You To Give Them When They Stop You?
It is obvious to anyone who has ever seen a movie or taken a civics class that you have the right to remain silent if police arrest you. What about if, as far as you know, you are not doing anything wrong, but an officer comes up to you and asks you for your name? As with so many other legal matters, it depends on context. Law enforcement officers have the right to ask everyone present for their names if the officers are investigating a possible offense. If an officer asks you for your name, it does not always mean that the police suspect you of involvement in a crime, but depending on how you react, things can quickly go wrong, and you can get arrested and face criminal charges purely for your actions during your interaction with the police, or for something unrelated. If you got arrested after what started as a routine interaction with police and want to resolve the matter before the state files charges, contact a Pittsburgh criminal defense lawyer.
Exercising Your Fifth Amendment Rights
The Fifth Amendment protects your right to avoid coercion into confessing to a crime, regardless of whether answering truthfully would result in a conviction. If you have a reasonable fear that truthfully answering a question by police would lead to you receiving criminal charges or being convicted in a currently pending case, you have the right to invoke your Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. Remember that lying to police when they are acting in their professional capacity is a crime. This is why you have seen news reports about people pleading the Fifth Amendment on the witness stand and seen movies where defendants refuse to testify in their own trials by invoking their right to remain silent.
In the News
Pennsylvania law requires drivers to carry their driver’s licenses with them while driving. Therefore, police can pull you over for any of a wide variety of reasons and ask to see your driver’s license; in practice, this means that the police can also find out your date of birth and your residential address. Passengers are not required to carry their driver’s licenses, but if things get to the point where police are asking passengers for their names, you can reasonably assume that they are investigating a possible crime.
Likewise, if you are on foot, police have the right to stop you and ask you for your name. If they ask your address, you should also answer truthfully. You have the right to refuse to answer any other questions they might ask, and you may refuse to consent to a search.
Contact Gary E. Gerson About Criminal Defense Cases
A criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges after a police officer asked for your name and address when you were walking or riding in a car. Contact the law offices of Gary E. Gerson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania about your case.
Source:
msn.com/en-us/news/us/do-you-know-your-rights-17-things-you-don-t-have-to-answer-when-stopped-by-police/ss-AA1wWKhO?ocid=msedgntp&pc=ACTS&cvid=24c2710d5d1840119dfb5346ec154ea6&ei=49#image=9
