Have you ever been administered a field sobriety test by police and then let go and allowed to drive home?

I agree. I'm pretty sure that in my second story above I wouldn't have gotten of if I had told the cop that I had only had a drink or two.

I've lived out of the usa for quite a few years now, and when I lived there they didn't do this random sobriety checkpoint bullshit. So I don't know if this is legit or not, but can't you refuse to be screened at those? Aren't there thousands of videos on youtube of people simply repeating "am I free to go?" until the cops give up and let them off, un-checked?

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dui+checkpoint+refusal

Anyone know how this works in practice?

So it is legal to lie the cops?

I know it is legal for cops to lie to you but I was wondering the other way around? I'm a moral guy so my first inclination is to tell the truth but if it is a game where we can lie to each other then I might as well play right?

lie to cops? wrote:

So it is legal to lie the cops?

I know it is legal for cops to lie to you but I was wondering the other way around? I'm a moral guy so my first inclination is to tell the truth but if it is a game where we can lie to each other then I might as well play right?

It is not illegal to lie to the cops, but also, think of it as righting a wrong. They are actually infringing your right to remain silent and attempting to gather evidence before they have a legal reason (probable cause) to arrest you and question you. I.e., they are attempting to have you incriminate yourself and by doing so give them grounds to investigate further and arrest you. If they did have grounds to arrest you, they would then need to allow you to speak to a lawyer before they questioned you. Your lawyer would tell you to say nothing.

So, when they ask you a question that you are not legally obligated to answer, like, have you had anything to drink, you say "no". Which doesn't really mean anything more than: "no, I do not want to answer your question". Legally, you are not required to answer police questions. So don't. Just say no.

Bro, if you haven't been to law school, quit dishing out legal advice.

It is (in most jurisdictions at least) illegal to lie to the police, it's generally (depends on the state) called some statutory offense like obstruction of justice.

But it's not as bad as perjury, which is a felony (under federal and most if not all state criminal laws).

I went from never getting pulled over in my life to getting pulled over by a town police officer 5-6 times in one year. Some of these attempts were outrageous on his part. A nice \"welcome to the town\" orientation my first year here. Anyway, he breathalyzed me one time and I passed without issue (0.0). This was AFTER failing the field sobriety tests, furthering the arbitrary tests set up to make you fail theory. Second occasion (months down the road) the officer attempted to subject me to field tests and breathalyze me again. I told him outright there was zero reasoning to justify making me taking these tests. He was still putting it in my face saying blow into this. He had to put the pbt back in the car. When he walked back I asked, \"what now officer?\" \"I was just asking. You\'re free to go.\" Crooked cop right there.

I am a lawyer, and the first poster is correct. You are talking about something different. There is no legal requirement to incriminate yourself. You have a right to silence. Saying no is not obstruction for the "suspect" to lie. If a witness lies, that is obstruction. If you are a witness, however, you can refuse to answer. An accused is never obligated to give evidence against himself. And, further, is presumed innocent. So, as the first person said, do not incriminate yourself, that is just stupid.

If you're a lawyer then why is your username "Law School"?

Suspicious.

Why do they just do road side breathaliser test?

There was this time...well, every time...that I drove my car NOT under the influence of any drugs or alcohol. No cops stopped me, and if they had, I wouldn't have had glassy eyes or worry that an empty would roll out from under the seat. Funny how that works. Some of you should try that.

law school wrote:

I am a lawyer, and the first poster is correct. You are talking about something different. There is no legal requirement to incriminate yourself. You have a right to silence. Saying no is not obstruction for the "suspect" to lie. If a witness lies, that is obstruction. If you are a witness, however, you can refuse to answer. An accused is never obligated to give evidence against himself. And, further, is presumed innocent. So, as the first person said, do not incriminate yourself, that is just stupid.

You don't technically have a right to remain silent until it is a custodial interrogation (not necessarily arrested) but you are also not obligated to answer questions prior to being in custody. In other words, when an officer asks you something like "have you been drinking?" or "where are you coming from?", they are asking you to voluntarily provide them with information.

If a cop asks you any question, you can simply say "Is this a custodial interrogation?" If he says "no," then you are free to leave. If he says "yes," then you have the right to remain silent.

Yep. I was out very very very late and I was driving home. I was back in town for Thanksgiving weekend and I had met friends "out" and was driving back to my in-laws house.

I got pulled over at about 3am. Luckily he only gave me a speeding ticket.

I need to agree with this. I was a spectator at an incident involving police officers and they did not do right to the young adult. They coerced a statement out of the youth and then nailed him for lying. After that incident, I would never tell an officer I committed a crime minor, as it might be. You have been warned.

I had a 12 pack one night and some spiked joints. I get pulled over cop asked you been drinking! I told his butt I'm not answering cause your interrogating me to get statements of guilty action by moi. He said I stunk so bad that they could smell me before they exited their car. I punched the fool and ran. I screamed the whole time "I'm an unarmed white man." Those cops were running after me and laughing so hard at my defensive statement. They shot me right on the butt with one of those taser things. Then their canine jumped right on me and clamped down on my butt! I yelled, get him off me I'm an unarmed white man! The cops just kept laughing. I got out a jail and I'm suing them for sexual abuse of an unarmed white man.

You people think a cop gives a squat what you say, when he asks you if you been drinking tonight? If you fight in court, the prosecutor, Judge and the defense never brings up what you said to that question. Everyone lies and all know it, means nothing. The cop sees something in your driving pattern. Maybe your leaving turn signal on to long, slight swerve, hitting brakes abnormally etc. He pulls you over, and this is his thinking. Does this guy have a gun, is there a second car following him and they got a gun, is there a hidden passenger ducking down with a gun. The cop smells the odor before you open your window, he asks if you been drinking but he is really looking at your hands, scanning your seat and waiting for you to explode on him. The cop knows damn well that in the next few seconds he could be dead. You step out he is wondering does he have a knife, is that a bulge at his beltline. He is watching how you position your body to him, if a gun is in your belt people tend to face you at a angle with the gun side away. Many DUI's have warrants and he has to say, turn around your under arrest, these DUI's are gonna make their move. Cops hate DUI detail. These people puke, crap and urinate in your car all the time. I haven't even touched the surface. Try making 5 DUI arrests in one night. Its more violence, stink, crap, vomit then most of you will experience in a life time.