Only 3 things to say to the police!

Speaker 1
00;00;00;15 – 00;00;01;19
Hi, everyone. Today, we’re going to talk about the only three things
you should ever say to an officer after you’ve been stopped.
This is Christina Williams with Just Criminal Law
Speaker 2
00;00;11;04 – 00;00;12;06
and David Mann, legal storytelling specialist. Okay. What are these
only three things you should ever say when you get stopped.
Speaker 1
00;00;18;02 – 00;00;19;27
You should let the officer know ‘I do not wish to discuss my day.’
You may have to say, ‘Am I free to leave or am I being detained?’
And it may even come to ‘I don’t want to answer any questions, I’d like to call my lawyer.’
Speaker 2
00;00;34;17 – 00;00;35;11
Hmm. Okay, so I don’t want to discuss my day,
and then am I being detained? Meaning? Am I being arrested?
Is that what that means?
Speaker 1
00;00;45;05 – 00;00;47;04
Now, detained is just somewhere in between
being pulled over and being arrested where you’re not free to leave
because the officer believes that criminal activity is afoot,
and so he’s investigating it.
Speaker 2
00;01;01;10 – 00;01;03;00
So I guess it would go sort of like so
the officer wants to ask you questions.
You say, ‘I don’t want to talk about my day.’
And then if he keeps asking you questions, you might go to,
‘Am I being detained in my free to leave?’
And if he keeps asking you questions, you’re going to go,
you know, ‘I need my lawyer.’ Is that sort of the progression
of how that goes?
Speaker 1
00;01;19;28 – 00;01;20;09
Exactly
Speaker 2
00;01;20;09 – 00;01;22;11
Okay, it might be useful if we kind of do a role play of this,
what it might look like, because these are not
phrases that I would normally say. So it might take some practice
kind of getting used to saying it, you know?
Speaker 2
00;01;33;11 – 00;01;36;12
So let’s say that I’m driving a car,okay?
And I have my girlfriend in the passenger seat of the car
and we are driving north on Highway 59. We have Colorado plates.
And let’s see, we’re being pulled over because we’re going too fast.
So we’re going 77 in a 70 mile per hour zone on the highway.
So I’m driving along, I’m being stopped. And you’re the officer coming up to
my window. What do you say?
Speaker 1
00;02;01;22 – 00;02;03;25
Well, I’m coming up to your window and I’m noticing
you have Colorado plates and we’re here in Wyoming.
And I know sometimes people from Colorado bring marijuana up
through Wyoming on their vacation. And so I’m going to maybe
try to dig a little bit and see if I can talk to you
about something other than the speeding ticket.
Speaker 2
00;02;22;14 – 00;02;24;26
Okay. All right. So we are now stopped. I’m rolling down my window and you say
Speaker 1
‘Good afternoon, sir. Do you know the reason I pulled you over?’
Speaker 2
00;02;31;28 – 00;02;34;01
No, I don’t.
Speaker 1
00;02;34;01 – 00;02;36;15
Well, you were doing 77, and this is a 70 mile per hour zone,
so I caught you at seven over. I’m going to need to write you
a speeding ticket. Could I have your license, registration
and proof of insurance?
Speaker 2
00;02;46;17 – 00;02;48;29
Yes, I have it right here.
Speaker 1
00;02;48;29 – 00;02;49;22
All right. And what are you in such a hurry for today?
Speaker 2
00;02;52;18 – 00;02;52;26
Well, I really just don’t want to discuss my day.
Speaker 1
00;02;56;07 – 00;02;58;07
Okay, well, I… you headed through Wyoming on vacation or something else?
Speaker 2
00;03;02;03 – 00;03;02;18
Yeah, it’s…it’s really…I just don’t want to discuss my day.
Speaker 1
00;03;05;10 – 00;03;07;12
Okay. Okay. And so I’m going to go ahead and write your ticket,
and I’ll be right back as long as you’re valid to drive.
Speaker 2
00;03;13;09 – 00;03;14;11
All right.
Speaker 1
00;03;14;11 – 00;03;16;12
So I write the ticket, I come back up to the window, and I say,
Here you go, sir. I’ve written you a ticket. Notice your court date.
You can just pay the fine there or you can go to court.
And don’t miss that because there will be a bench
warrant issued for you if you fail to pay it
or you miss your court date. Any questions?
Speaker 2
00;03;35;18 – 00;03;38;00
No, I do not have any questions.
Speaker 1
00;03;38;00 – 00;03;38;17
Okay. Well, you know that that ends our business here
with a speeding ticket. Do you mind if I ask you a few more questions?
Speaker 2
00;03;48;09 – 00;03;49;16
Am I being detained or am I free to leave?
Speaker 1
00;03;51;15 – 00;03;53;19
No, no, you’re not being detained. But, you know,
I just noticed you have a lot of camping gear and in the back of your vehicle and,
you know, some bags. Anything illegal in those bags?
Speaker 2
00;04;02;22 – 00;04;03;00
Yeah, as I was saying before, I really don’t want to discuss my day
if I’m free to leave, I’d like to just go.
Speaker 1
00;04;08;02 – 00;04;10;01
Okay. Okay. I gotcha.
And so this might be if the questioning goes on and,
you know, the officers being more persistent and he
he doesn’t respect your wishes just to be on your way,
then that’s where it’s time to say, ‘Well,
I don’t want to answer any more questions.
Should I call my lawyer? And that that will end the questioning
that will likely get you on your way.
Speaker 2
00;04;32;21 – 00;04;35;14
So here’s a question for you on that.
You’re saying I’d like to call my lawyer, and I think a lot of people like myself
really don’t have a lawyer on speed dial. You know, it’s not like
we already have a lawyer on retainer. But at that point,
it would be okay to call you, right?
Speaker 1
00;04;49;24 – 00;04;50;24
Right. And we will include a link in the description
where you can call text or chat with a member of my team
any time, day or night
Here at Just Criminal Law, we know you only get one shot at justice,
so make yours count.