Police in the Rearview Mirror

06/01/2011 10:20:00

It's a sight that nobody likes to see, the flashing of a police car's lights in your rearview mirror. At first you hope that the police officer is simply going to another call and will pass you by, but as his car settles in behind you, you know you're the one he's after, for whatever reason. I often get asked by people what should they do then and the one thing you absolutely should do is pull over. You will only make matters worse by attempting to run from the police and you will most likely wind up with a felony charge should you make that decision.

No matter what problem you have, no matter how big of a problem you think it is, it's probably not as bad as you think. For example, running from the police because you don't have a driver's license, or your license is suspended is exchanging a small problem for a much larger one. You're trading what would generally be a misdemeanor charge, where you most likely would not even be taken to jail, just given a court date to appear, for a potential felony charge. Even if you have a problem that you know is out there, such as a warrant for your arrest for a violation of probation or a failure to appear, it's much better to just deal with only that problem, rather than making a new one for yourself by attempting to run from the police.

Once you've been pulled over and you know you're driving illegally or you have that warrant for your arrest, there are still things you can do to protect yourself and assist your future defense attorney in fighting the case against you. The most important thing is to not to volunteer any information or make any voluntary statements that can later be used against you. You must answer some questions, such as giving your identifying information ( and do not lie about your identity or date of birth or basic information that will be found out eventually and result in you receiving another criminal charge), but you are not under any obligation to answer any questions from the officer regarding matters such as whether you knew your license was suspended or whether you knew you had a warrant for your arrest. Any explanation you try to give will only wind up hurting you later on and make it much easier for the State to convict you at trial.

Often times I'm asked about Miranda in situations such as these, and that will be a topic of a future blog posting. Be aware that police officers are only required to read Miranda warnings to suspects when they are engagin in what is called a custodial interrogation, and most of the time at the side of the road, that traffic stop does not meet the legal definition of being in custody. So watch what you say, don't depend upon the officer to let you know you have the right to remain silent, and you'll be on your way to being in a much better position to beat the charge against you.

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Police in the Rearview Mirror