A Cop Just Stopped Me, What to Do? 

If you are stopped or being interviewed by a law enforcement officer (“LEO”), the first thing to do is be “light and polite.” Showing respect and courtesy to LEO, may avoid criminal charges being filed against you.   

You have a constitutional Fifth Amendment Right to remain silent.  Any initial LEO questions should be answered such as your name, date of birth and address. However, if the cop then asks you about any potential criminal activity, you should say “based upon the advice of my lawyer, I am exercising my right to remain silent.”  You have a constitutional Fifth (5th) Amendment right to remain silent. Anything you can to LEO, can and will be used against you in a court of law if criminally charge are filed. Your statement will not make the cop “happy,” but once you assert your 5th Amendment right to remain silent, LEO must stop questioning you. LEO can threaten you or take you to jail. However, if there is a possibility that you may have committed a crime, it is better to go jail initially rather give up your 5th Amendment right by admitting to criminal activity which just helps LEO build a criminal case against you.   

The Fourth (4th) Amendment to the Constitution guarantees a right from unreasonable searches and seizures.  A warrantless search is presumed to be unreasonable, thus unconstitutional. See State v. Olsen, 315 N.W.2d 1, 4 (Iowa 1982).    

Do not agree to allow LEO to search your car or house without a warrant.  allows a person to be free of “If you are detained in a traffic stop or the police show up at your residence and ask to search the car/house, do NOT consent to a search. Once you have consented to a search, you potentially have allowed LEO to build a criminal case against you.  If LEO says, “we can get a warrant,” then make them get a warrant.   

The United States Supreme Court held that you have a 4th Amendment right to privacy regarding your cellular telephone. See Riley v. California, 573 U.S. (USSCT 2014).  Do not allow LEO to voluntarily inspect your cellular telephone.  If you give them your cell phone you potentially are helping LEO build a criminal case against you.   

While discussing the issue of telephones, if you are taken to jail, do not make any incriminating statements over the jail telephone.  Jail telephone calls ARE recorded. Most people do not like being in custody. They get bored and call friends or family. The person on the other line asks the obvious question, “why are you in jail?” If you make any statements to the caller that indicate that you may have committed an illegal act, you have given up your constitutional right to remain silent. I cannot tell you how many times in twenty-five (25) years of legal practice that I have received a CD of my client’s recorded telephone statements from the prosecutor’s office. Talking over telephone about your alleged crime only helps the prosecutor build a case against you.