How and when you can dismiss an officer trying to question/search you?

[dankplantgrower]

I could have avoided a charge and a stain on my record if I had known my basic rights, I unknowingly incriminated myself and produced just enough verbal evidence that eventually left me S.O.L. in terms of fighting a legal battle. My particular case doesnt apply to recreational intoxicants, but Im sure any knowledge gleaned here about basic rights could be applied there as well.

(Im gonna hide the story so people who dont want to read 3 big paragraphs of story, can just skip to the questions, which is really most important here)

NSFW:

Recently a sheriff approached me on my porch after a very minor traffic collision earlier in the day that wasnt my fault (some road raging idiot started playing cutoff chicken with me, and cut it too close and got bumped twice in quick succession. Then he failed to pullover to exchange info even as I tried to wave him over, so I just hopped on the freeway and went home... There was hardly any damage and my old truck already had a couple dents anyway, and his big chrome bumper couldnt have had much more than a ding). Instead of the usual tough guy routine the sheriff introduced himself, took a seat next to me and started talking to me like I was his grandma, real polite and genial. Ive always been hit with the Miranda Warning before questioning earlier, so I assumed they werent out to nail me, rather gather info for insurance companies or something. So I stupidly answered a couple questions, and the cop started reminiscing about his younger days in my neighborhood, and shared small talk and jokes about the neighborhood, how he had owned my same model car as a young man, how the times have changed etc. Then he excused himself. "By the way" he said, "would you mind if I took a picture of your car real quick?" still talking with the funny ha-ha attitude we had just been sharing. I didnt realize he had been goading me on with his bullshit just to gather evidence from me unwittingly to seal the deal. And I also didnt know that I could have just up n told the sheriff that I dont feel like talking and request that he leave my property.

Fast forward to court. The public defender nearly shouted "dont ever talk to the police!" when he reviewed the case with me before we saw the judge. Dont ever talk to the police? In my experiences, when I dont cooperate with the police theres a pretty good chance I will get roughed up! Also the sheriff approached super low key with the small talk and the joking, no Miranda warning, big talk, or otherwise blatant sign (to my ignorant self at least) that he was gathering evidence to use against me in court. And this is all on behalf of the stupid MF who actually caused the accident! (I believe he thought I was probably gonna call the cops on him to report him, so he called himself to try and cover his ass. He got my license plate number and reported me as if I had just hit him and fled the scene, fucking nimwit.)

So I was looking at a hit and run that I was innocent of, but driving on a suspended license, with no insurance, with a somewhat recent DUI, and contending with a "victim"/cop combo who reeeally seemed to want to see me in jail. This probably isnt looking too good to your average Jane Juror. Surely this uninsured maniac on a suspended license with a fresh DUI hit that poor guy and sped off right? (My license was out was because I fell behind in child support payments and I couldnt afford insurance). The 2 fender bumps and the "victims" story was enough for the D.A. to add "assault with a deadly weapon" to my charges and asking for 2 years in prison. But, they will drop it to a vanilla hit and run charge if I just plea guilty (to something I didnt do!) without a fight. So in the end, I plead guilty and now have that on the record as well as months long anger management classes, and 50+ days weekends on top of the weekends I owed on my DUI (which puts me at over a year and a month of weekends total). None of this would have happened if I had just told the cop that I wouldnt talk. My recent record and my driving circumstances really looked bad, to the point I belive a jury would be skewed against me. Add an innocent "victim" and deceptive cop against me, and I just couldnt risk taking it to the jury because of the possible prison time. I really wish I hadnt spoken to that 2-faced deputy.

(sorry its so long but I felt like it all had to be explained for it to make sense)

So when is it safe to refuse questioning from LEO (law enforcement officers), and under what circumstances should you not refuse questioning? (For instance in some cases, refusing to speak to the police probably doesnt look too good to an Average Joe/Jane pool of jurors who decide if you are guilty or not.) Ive been roughed up for failing to speak up to cops on more than one occasion too, but the circumstances were somewhat different I guess.

When can an officer legally search your person? Do you have to appear violent, or intoxicated? Ive been searched on routine traffic stops where Ive felt that they were profiling me just because Im young and my heads shaved and I often look tired. Surely they dont search everyone who fails to signal at an intersection. What can you tell the officers to leave you alone, without crossing the line and drawing more heat onto yourself?

Was the officer within his bounds to question me and collect evidence against me (on my own property!) without reading me my rights? Or otherwise let me know what was going on? It was very deceptive.

 

[Johnny blue]

Unfortunately we don't do legal stuff like this on the site. If you want to know the answers to these questions and be sure about them then you really need to be talking to a lawyer. There are many social aspects to the site but, bluelight is a harm reduction site and that HR only applies to health. At one time we had a legal discussion forum but, that's long gone and it was decided that we won't be fielding legal discussion any longer. Sorry. Closed