Police encounters and the magic words
I've been reading the Just Cause Law Collective website (thanks to Windypundit), which is an excellent resource on how to handle police encounters. They also have a book for sale at a reasonable price.
One thing that they stress is the magic words you must use during a police encounter. When an officer is trying to engage you in conversation after you have been stopped (whether a traffic stop, walking down the street, at a friend's house, at the shopping mall), you need to say "am I free to go?" The Fourth Amendment does not come into play until you have been "detained," and during a "consensual encounter" with the police you do not have any Fourth Amendment protections. If you say "am I free to go?" and the officer says, "yes you are," then leave. If the officer says "no you are not," then you know that you are now being detained and the Constitution applies.
Example:
Cop: Can I ask you some questions?
You: Am I free to go?
Cop: I just want to talk to you.
You: Am I free to go?
Cop: You are free to go, just let me ask you some questions.
You: (Walking away) Bye.
On the other hand, if you are not free to leave - the officer says no, or if you have already been transported to the police station, my advice has always been to immediately assert your right to counsel and your right to remain silent and then say no more. Once you ask for an attorney, they cannot legally question you further until you have been given an attorney.
Law Collective suggests that you ask "why," when the officer says you are not free to go, for purposes of later establishing that there was no reasonable suspicion for the detention, provided there are witnesses to hear his response.
This is complicating things a bit. I propose that once you know you are not free to go, you keep it simple and say "I want my lawyer" and nothing more. Don't waffle, don't say "maybe I should talk to a lawyer," or "do you think I should call my lawyer?" It needs to be clear and unambiguous, "I want my lawyer."
Example:
You: Am I free to go?
Cop: You aren't going anywhere until I get some answers.
You: Then I want my lawyer.
Cop: Why would you want a lawyer unless you're guilty?
You: I want my lawyer.
Cop: If you just talk to us now, we can help you. If you lawyer up there's nothing I can do to help you then.
You: I want my lawyer.
It doesn't matter if you are guilty or innocent, odds are if an officer or detective is questioning you they think you are guilty. They are not trying to clear your name, they are trying to gather evidence against you and will try to trick you if they can. Either they are already planning on arresting you and want more evidence, or they don't have enough evidence to arrest you and they are looking for statements to justify their suspicions. The law collective also has a good collection of common lines and techniques that cops use during interrogations.
