I work at a tobacco shop. And after they said I blown through a stop sign. When asked when drinking I said no. Then he said I smelled, and I quote, “of something suspicious”. I get cops get their paycheck for tickets and such but seriously has it really gotten this bad that for a ticket they try to make it something bigger? and ignoring my rights?
This is why lawyers exist, and why the court room is the other part of the justice system.
While true, cops should have basic competence and not waste the courts time and the defendant’s money.
Still bullshit you have to probably pay court and lawyer fees and waste however much time it takes to be detained and in and out of court.
If you’re poor you’re fucked either way. “oh after many stressful months they said I am innocent! As a prize, I owe anywhere from several hundred to several thousands of dollars to the state and/or my lawyer, just because this one jacakss cop was in a bad mood one day and didn’t like my face, or the car I drove, or the way I wore my clothes, etc.”
I have lost all faith or confidence in justice existing within this system. It is incompatible with the possibility of what you described.
There was a SCROTUS ruling under Dump that ruled they don’t have to read you your Miranda rights.
“Shut the f- up” and always request a lawyer now, is the correct strategy, which seems a gift to bar associations.
Shit I didn’t ever hear about this.
The Miranda warning isn’t required every time a police officer initiates an interaction with you.
For the Miranda rule to apply, a person must be in custody, meaning that they are “deprived of freedom of action in any significant way.” Routine traffic stops are usually not considered custodial.
For the Miranda warning to apply, a person must meet two conditions: 1) being in custody and 2) under interrogation. For example, if you are “un-Mirandized” and cuffed at the police station, blurting out a confession while you aren’t being questioned is admissible evidence in court because while you were in custody, you were not being actively interrogated.
Police are not required to read your Miranda rights before or during arrest. While some officers may choose to do so, they are only legally obligated to “Mirandize” suspects who are being questioned in custody.
This has always been a thing forever. A Miranda warning is exactly that, a courtesy warning. Anything you say at literally any time and in any scenario barring very little can be used against you in a court of law. At the same time, you always have the right to invoke your 5th amendment protections barring very specific exceptions. AFAIK the exception is when a judge orders you to testify. Literally no other time can you be compelled to answer unless you’ve already agreed to do so.
Point: Always assume anything you say is being recorded and might come up again later. Do not rely on other people to warn you before you fuck yourself. Shut your speak hole unless your representative says otherwise.
Assuming a prosecutor takes this to court, they will have to provide evidence during the probable cause hearing. If it goes that far, it will get dismissed if there is no evidence. It’s more likely that the prosecutor does nothing unless there is something they have unknown to you or you are not telling us something.
I would bet money we are missing the truth here. They aren’t gonna waste time after proving your innocence.
Sure they will. Many prosecutors are so bombastically driven to succeed that they will prosecute a case they can win even if they know it is not justice because winning at all costs is the only thing that matters to some.
You don’t get into a good law school and don’t become a country prosecutor by being a typical person. They are very much driven to succeed and have lived their entire lives that way.
Additionally, since prosecutors are an elected position in many places, they have a serious incentive in locking up as many people as they possibly can, if only because incarcerated people generally don’t make campaign ads.
Others have answered the questions about getting arrested. Here’s a specific answer about Miranda rights.
Miranda rights are not read to you when you are pulled over on suspicion of breaking the law. They are read to you when you are being formally interrogated. Ask “Am I being detained?” or “Am I being interrogated?” If they say “no”, keep quiet. If they say “yes”, that’s when they are required to read you your rights, at which point you say “I want to speak to my lawyer”.
Very much not a lawyer but in the US from what I understand you don’t have to consent to a field sobreity test at all (IE the breathalyzer), but the cops can require you to come to the station for, the tests that they refused to give you.
As far as Miranda rights, that’s kind of misunderstood, in short if you weren’t formerly brought into an interogation room. or put in jail, it’s not a strong requirement for them to read it.
I don’t have the full picture but if you aren’t in jail, then you’ve basically got a BS ticket. They might be able to hit you for reckless driving or something if you were swerving or something in your driving lead to the actual suspicion and they have it on dash cam, but the DWI itself, should fall apart instantly without evidence.
I know my ex got out of a DWI that she was very guilty of, simply by police incompetence (cops lost the test results),
Actually, as far as Miranda rights, I could’ve swore the corrupt as hell SCOUTS recently overturned precedent on that and in doing so killed your right to have your Miranda rights recited to you at all. You still have said rights, in theory, but piggies no longer have to disclose that.
those are just courtesy to tell you what rights you have
you should know them already and shouldnt have to be told about them
You always victim blame, or you just like the taste of the of that boot?
Your argument, then, is that cops lying and/or coercing false confessions and the like out of their victims somehow benefits everyone? Please, do tell.
know your rights, its not their job to babysit
Right. Because their job, literally, is to surveil and harass citizens on behalf of a bunch of sociopathic parasites that rape, torture, and murder children.
And, dude, what’s the mother-fucking point of feeding a troll, such as yourself, if you’re not gonna at least be amusing?!? My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined!
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
Well the idea of Miranda rights is that people famously may not know their rights when they are arrested and thus need to be informed about them before being interrogated.
Don’t ever speak to the police. They are never there to help you. Get a lawyer asap! ACAB
This day and age you should be grateful you only got a ticket and you’re not in a concentration camp somewhere.
In all seriousness, yes cops suck. Go to court, if they got nothing, you may be able to get out of it.
As for smelling something suspicious- hemp is legal in most states and only discernible (but not really) by testing through a state approved lab. When you buy hemp online it comes with a letter to law enforcement saying that it’s legal. I carry one of those letters in my bag.
“I am not discussing what I have or haven’t been eating or drinking. Am I being detained or am I free to go?” Field sobriety tests are always voluntary, but you might have to go to the station for a blood test.
If they continue to ask questions, “I am invoking my constitutional right to not answer questions. I won’t be making any other statements without a lawyer present.”
If they ask you to step out of your vehicle, you do have to comply. “I am complying and stepping out of my vehicle. I do not consent to a search of my person or property. Am I free to go or am I being detained?”
Never talk to the cops brought to you by Shut the Fuck Up Friday.
Field sobriety tests are always voluntary
It may not always be so simple. In my state (Georgia) there is “implied consent” (yes, disgusting term) to breathalyzers and refusing one gets your license suspended for a year.This is after arrest actually, so it might be different.Speaking for California, but you technically consent to blood draws when you get your license Cvc 23612
I don’t think it’s ever been forced though for a simple DWI, and I’d find it hard to believe a random nurse/phlebotomist would be down with a forced blood draw.
You can probably refuse everything but the other circumstances of being impaired likely won’t help ya and if it’s gone that far you’re probably going to jail anyway
Depending on your habits, it might behoove you to opt for the station breath test. They can look at more than just alcohol in blood and pop you for weed or even legally prescribed adderall.
In most states you’re allowed to not take the roadside breath test, despite cops lying like motherfuckers about it. It’s the one at the station after you’ve been arrested that you have to take if you don’t want to automatically get your license taken for like a year, and they always do at least two different samples between that breath test, urine, and blood. Don’t do those and you’re pretty much guaranteed you lose your license and get the DUI charge as well.
That is the opposite of another comment here. I guess I’ll beleive neither and refuse both tests to play it safe
Different states have different laws. I’m in Louisiana and refusing a breath test automatically triggers a license suspension
And you’ve been lied to and you’re wrong. I just read your Louisiana revised statute 32.666 and you don’t have to take a preliminary breath test (the little one the cops use on the side of the road).
Again, though. Not a lawyer. Speak to your lawyer in Louisiana and ask them. Other jurisdictions may have different laws.
Like I said, your license can be suspended. That means you can still refuse it.
But most importantly, read 32:661 if you want to be insufferable about it. We have an implied consent law.
And that implied consent law is for a breathalyzer test. Not the one they do on the side of the road. You don’t lose your license to refuse a pbt.
Edit: Also fyi. Read 32.661 with a bit higher of a reading comp level. The chem test you can’t refuse is AFTER YOUR ARREST.
Ask a lawyer in your state sometime. You will very likely discover that you can and should refuse the roadside stuff.
It’s shit that you have to know exactly what to say in order to take advantage of your rights.
But one thing I should mention is not just to be careful not to say what you’ve been eating or drinking. Never tell the cops anything about yourself other than what is legally required. They often ask where you’re coming from and where you’re going, for example.
They often try to trick people into consenting to a search by phrasing an order as a question, and pretending like they were just asking a question. “Would you mind opening your trunk?” The response is “I do not consent to searches.” I would also lock my door if I stepped out of my car. There are many situations where they can pretend you implied consent to search.
the land of freedom (insert bald eagle noises)
“something suspicious“
This line is bait to trick you into saying something that they can arrest you for. You’re only reply. Should be “OK, am I free to go?“. If they had something to arrest you for or to take you for, they would do it without asking you questions. When they ask you questions like this, they are not asking you questions to see if they can let you go. They are asking you questions to find something to ticket you for or arrest you for.
Cops are not your friends, and they are never, never, never ever ever there to help you. It is tho job to fuck you as hard as possible. Do not give them that opportunity by telling them anything that would make that easier for them to do.
“I have nothing to say to you. Am I free to go?” (repeatedly) is the best option.
Something similar happened to me once. I was driving back from my friend’s house a state away, and had just taken a passenger ferry to cross a large sound. I had my dog with me, who was sleeping in the passenger seat at the time, and the back of the car was full of luggage.
Of course, as I’m about to get home I get pulled over and accused of drinking. I hadn’t had a single drop to drink that day. What followed was a 20 minute interrogation on the side of the road trying to get a confession that never came. The pigs kept trying to put words into my mouth. They insisted repeatedly that I had been on a party boat (with my dog somehow), and kept implying that my dog was dangerous (she was asleep). I legitimately feared they were trying to fabricate a reason to shoot her.
Then they returned to their cop car and spend ages doing whatever it is pigs do in their mobile pen. I assume talking and checking my background for any criminal activity (I have none). Finally, they returned in a huff, gave me my license, and sent me off
That’s the kicker, when they finally let you go all pissed off because YOU wasted THEIR time.
If you get their badge number you can really make them mad when your lawyer hits them for unlawful detention. They can stop you but it needs to be fast. Talk to a lawyer for details in your state.
Just wait until they start screaming “Stop Resisting” for no reason. That’s when you’re either going to end up in a hospital or a grave. Get a lawyer and good luck.
Miranda rights only apply if the police are asking you incriminating questions.
If you are being arrested and questioned theres actually never any advantage of demanding to be read your rights, I see a lot of people demanding the police read them their rights.
When the police read you your rights it protects the police not you.
If you are questioned and incriminate yourself there are two possibilities. They did not read you your Miranda rights, in which case almost any lawyer in the country can get that incriminating statement thrown out because you weren’t read your rights. The did read you your Miranda rights, in which case you are fucked, you were informed you didn’t have to answer but incriminated yourself anyways.
It is never in your interest to demand they read you your rights and you should never really be upset if they don’t. Either they don’t have to or they just fucked up to your benefit.
Miranda rights only apply if the police are asking you incriminating questions
I argue that all questions asked by police are potentially incriminating.
Anything you say to a cop, regardless of whether they read you your rights, can and will be used against you.
Do not ever talk to cops. Don’t answer their questions with more than a polite “I don’t want to talk about my day, sir.” If they keep pressing say “I invoke my fifth amendment right to remain silent and want a lawyer”
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