Re: [Leica] Is this believable?

["Roland Smith" <roland@dnai.com>]

Hello Bryan:

If a police officer starts a conversation with me and asks questions, am I
obligated to answer?  I can concede that I might be required to yield my
identity.   But am I obligated to say anything else?

For instance, if an officer pulls me over for no apparent reason according
to my perspective, am I required to answer his question about where I am
coming from or where I am going?

I know of no prohibition about taking pictures in public.  If a cop tries to
bully me about it, what rights do I have?

Since you work in a DA's office, please provide any relevant authority.

I am concerned that with the current political leadership hysteria these
issues will put more good citizens to the test.

Thanks for your previous comments on airport security checks.  Your
comprehensive explanation was most helpful.

Best regards,

Roland Smith
Oakland, California

- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Bryan Caldwell" <bcaldwell51@earthlink.net>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Friday, December 06, 2002 12:11 PM
Subject: Re: [Leica] Is this believable?


> Austin,
>
> Things you say can be used against you in many circumstances. Miranda,
like
> many areas of the law, is riddled with exceptions and is currently being
> reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court. For Miranda to come into play
> (generally) the subject must be a suspect, be detained, and the subject's
> statements must be in response to law enforcement questioning (all three
of
> these conditions are subject to varying interpretations). So, for
instance,
> if you are free to leave or if you are making a spontaneous statement that
> is not in response to questioning, Miranda will not constitute a bar to
the
> admission of any statements made. Even if the circumstances do require
> Miranda, a statement obtained in violation of Miranda can still be
admitted
> to impeach a contradictory statement made in later testimony by the
> defendant. In fact, law enforcement often intentionally ignore Miranda
> warnings on the theory that obtaining statements effectively prevents the
> defendant from testifying to anything else at trial.
>
> In response to your question about whether you can simply walk away from a
> police officer who does not suspect you of doing anything, the answer is
> probably yes in a technically legal sense. Would I recommend doing so, no.
> Too often, encounters between citizens and the police come down to whose
> version of the encounter is believed, the officer's or the citizen's. We
> probably don't need to go very far to realize who usually prevails.
>
>
> Bryan
>
> --
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>


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