No Stupid Questions

lmao first time meeting a cop?

sorry that happened to you and good luck. hire a lawyer and do not talk to the police. not one word, unless your lawyer tells you to say it.

"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.

They wrote the one armed lady a ticket for holding a phone in the hand that doesn't exist while driving. So yeah. It's gotten that bad.

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.

“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.

they are filling a qouta, they dont care if is legit or not, just that have it on file.

This is why lawyers exist, and why the court room is the other part of the justice system.

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.

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.

Don’t ever speak to the police. They are never there to help you. Get a lawyer asap! ACAB

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),

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”

This message has been brought to you by Shut the Fuck Up Friday.

Turn off the device and get a criminal lawyer.

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.

Did they blood test you? If yes, and you hit for weed in a lame state, still get a lawyer, but also good luck.

If you didn't get a blood test, get a lawyer, you'll get off. Like for sure. "I work there of course I smell like it, I don't even smoke I just like affording 'food' Your Honor. They can't prove I was high without that blood test. Rolling stop at best."

Breathalyzers are not admissible in court, btw.

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".

Yeah, especially in small towns. Just plead not guilty and get a public defender if you can (or hire a lawyer if you have the money). They'll probably drag it out for a while until the court eventually dismisses it. I've been pulled over, searched, and arrested for made-up shit multiple times.

So short answer yes they can do that, for a few reasons, maybe the prosecutor will drop the charges, depending on how the stop went and if anything else happened which resulted in additional charges that end up sticking. Preface, I am not a lawyer.

A, any kind of traffic infraction (real or hallucinated by the cops) technically gives them the legal right to stop you. The initial stop will likely be upheld if it goes to court.

B, they use that as a pretext to then investigate other possible things. Drunk/impaired driving not surprisingly is a big one. Roadside breath tests are not admissible in court, station tests are.

C, if you blow 0's they rapidly pivot to "What other substances have you had which are impairing your ability to operate a motor vehicle". Technically speaking they can do that, if they think they have reasonable suspicion you are driving while impaired.

D, here's where it gets shitty. You can still be convicted of DWI even if all tests come back negative. Prosecutors can argue you were impaired by a substance that doesn't come up on standard tests. If they think they have enough video or documented evidence of you acting impaired they can still push for that.

E, GET A LAWYER. They can argue and eliminate a lot of points of data which the prosecutor can claim are evidence of impairment. Red watery eyes? They were tired. Slurred speech? How does the officer know those are not your normal speaking patterns? An important thing to note here, field sobriety tests tend to favor the police, NOT you. And they are not a legal requirement. Fyi.

F, if a more comprehensive drug test will show you were not intoxicated in any way you can pay out of pocket and submit that to court, but now you're getting into the area of "how much money will it cost to not take a lesser charge.

G, speaking of, the weaker the case the more likely the prosecutor will plead you down to a lesser charge just to make it go away while still giving them a technical win. It's bullshit and they use the threat of cost to prove innocence against you, because fuck poor people.

If you're in the US, in states I know of, at least, if you weren't taken back to the station and had another DUI test done and took two other chem tests such as blowing in their big machine (not that little roadside one), a urine sample, and\or a blood draw, then I doubt you're getting charged with DUI. The roadside breathalyzer and heel to toe bullshit is just stuff used as a precursor to your arrest and you don't even have to do either of those. The tests to take you to court and charge you are all done after you've been arrested and are at the jail. The testing back at the jail house is what you aren't allowed to refuse without losing your license. You don't have to do shit roadside and there's no consequences, despite the lying shit the cop will tell you. Not the lil breath test, or walking a line, or following the officers finger or nothing. All that can be refused. It's all just so the officer has standing for being able to arrest you. Before you're at the jail, you don't have to participate in ANYTHING that is trying to determine your sobriety.

As the top commenter said. Don't consent to search. Don't resist. Get out if asked to get out, but close and if possible even lock your door. Exercise 4th, 5th, and 6th. STATE that you're exercising your right to remain silent and not answer questions and then STFU till you talk to a lawyer.

I could make this a list of shit and things to do like a mile long, but that's the highlight reel.

I'm not a lawyer. I'm not your lawyer. This is not law advice. I don't know if there's any exceptions to this in your particular state.

It sounds like you got taken advantage of by the cops. Get a lawyer. Sorry this happened to you.

As for Miranda rights, there's a comic here https://lawcomic.net/guide/?p=2637 that explains how those work.

In general it doesn't matter if they aren't read to you unless the prosecution wants to use your self-incriminating statements against you in a criminal case. Then those statements might not be usable as evidence, but that's the only consequence.

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.

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

I assume in the USA? Not all countries have Miranda or right to remain silent laws. In some you are required to talk.

They don't need to read you your rights for a field sobriety test. I believe every state has laws that make consent a condition of the drivers license and establish that the tests aren't self incrimination.

They should have read you your rights but if they didn't question you after arrest it's probably academic, since failure to do so would mean the answers you didn't give to the questions they didn't ask were inadmissible.

A dwi doesn't require alcohol. They could just say you were on "something". It's a catchall for not being in a fit state to drive.

Anything anyone says here is pointless. You need to talk to a lawyer.

Get a good lawyer yesterday, don't talk to the cops.

the land of freedom (insert bald eagle noises)