Can a witness refuse to talk to police?

You have the constitutional right to remain silent. In general, you do not have to talk to law enforcement officers (or anyone else), even if you do not feel free to walk away from the officer, you are arrested, or you are in jail. You cannot be punished for refusing to answer a question.

Is refusing to help a crime?

The California Posse Comitatus Act of 1872 makes it a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 for “an able-bodied person 18 years of age or older” to refuse to comply with a cop’s call for assistance in making an arrest, recapturing a suspect fleeing custody “or preventing a breach of the peace or the …

What is it called when you don’t help with an investigation?

As a law enforcement officer, you are usually the first official to approach victims. For example, if the crime is ongoing, or if the collection of evidence or investigation of the crime is extremely time-sensitive, first responders may not be able to direct their immediate attention to the victims.

Can the police detain a witness who they don’t suspect wrongdoing?

Question: Can the Police Detain a Witness Who They do not of Suspect Wrongdoing? Answer : Yes – but only under very limited circumstances. The Fourth Amendment – The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures

Can a witness Witness be used as a special needs search?

On the other hand, if the crime is not a major crime (violent misdemeanor or felony), the witness is not likely to be able to provide much quality information about the crime, and less intrusive methods are available the court is more likely to hold as unconstitutional the special needs search.

Is it legal to detain a witness to a marijuana crime?

In practice, it may be constitutionally permissible to detain for half an hour the only eye witness to a gruesome homicide, detaining for hours a witness to someone smoking a marijuana cigarette in the privacy of their home may be less constitutionally defensible.

What are the constitutional propriety of the detention of witnesses?

The constitutional propriety of the detention will turn on four factors (1) the seriousness of the crime witnessed, (2) the nature of the information the witness can reasonably expect to provide, (3) the level of proof that the witness can provide, and (4) whether there are less intrusive methods to obtain the same information . See, e.g.,