Steve Palmer [00:00:00]:

Alright. We are back. Lawyer Talk, DUI 360 and DUI q and a. What does that mean? That means I got a question. This one comes from Tim Carnes, 8770, that, you know, Tim's this question is not specifically DUI, but it sort of is, and I'll get to it in a second. But first, let me thank everybody for subscribing, for liking, for getting involved, and interacting with our videos on YouTube and elsewhere because, look, we love doing this. I love bringing you this content, and it feels good when people when I know that people are interacting and asking questions, sort of like the one we're gonna answer today. You can also subscribe to our podcast at lawyertalkpodcast.com or wherever you normally subscribe to podcast.

Steve Palmer [00:00:41]:

At the website though, it gives us you know, there's a little link. You can just follow it, and you can hit go or click, and you'll subscribe. It'll also take you to all the socials where you can interact there and ask questions. Alright. So here's the question. How do you protect yourself against interrogation alongside of the road? I mean, police are trained to ask questions to set you up. It's all subject to the officer's observation or opinion whether he thinks you passed a test or answered him correctly. You can take a chance that they will be a good cop, but anyone anymore, there are so many bad ones that no matter what you do or say, they have already made up their mind.

Steve Palmer [00:01:16]:

To some extent, I I I agree. To some extent, I disagree with some of your premises. But, the good news is it doesn't necessarily matter because we still have constitutional rights. So how do you protect yourself? Well, educate yourself, and that's what I'm doing right here. You have a 5th Amendment right not to make statements to the police. So when you're pulled over, whether it's for a DUI or OBI in here in Ohio or any other type of offense, you don't have to answer questions. Now that gets really awkward really fast if a cop is standing at your window saying, what happened? What did you do? Most people feel compelled sort of from a human nature standpoint, or they feel weird if they don't answer the questions. But I'm here to tell you, if you've been consuming alcohol or you're worried at all about whether you've had too much alcohol to drink, you don't need to say anything to the police officers.

Steve Palmer [00:02:02]:

Now look, the obligatory, I had 2 beers or I had 2 drinks, that's typically what people say, or I had a few. Or some people just flat out lie and say, I have not been drinking when everybody and their mother, that is the police officer, knows because he's looking at you and he can smell your breath, that you have been drinking alcohol. None of those are great options. The only option you have it's sort of what I I maybe I've said this on this show before, but it's like you woke up in the middle of a minefield. You don't have the path out. You don't you need a map to get out and you don't have it. The best thing to do is stay put. In other words, don't talk.

Steve Palmer [00:02:35]:

And it look, the police officer is not gonna be happy about you telling him or her, I don't wanna make any statements until I have a lawyer present, but you have every right to do it. Now you might also ask, well, won't they just think I'm guilty? Yes. But guess what? As Tim has recognized, they already think you're guilty whether rightfully or wrongfully. They think you're guilty. Now, what are they gonna do? If I say or if you say on the side of the road, I don't wanna answer any questions, they're probably going to arrest you. If you say, I don't wanna do any field sobriety tests, they're probably going to arrest you. I can't do anything about that on the side of the road, but what you're doing is when you call me or somebody like me, who can help you later on when you're charged with crimes, you're giving us a lot to work with or maybe better put, you're not giving the other side much to work with. So the best bet in any scenario is don't talk to the police.

Steve Palmer [00:03:24]:

And I'm not saying be mean about it. You don't have to be a jackass about it. You don't have to be obstructionist about it. You can just politely say, look, I'd rather not make any statements until I have a lawyer, and the police will do what they're gonna do. You just sort of have to accept one thing or accept this. If you speak to them and tell them you've been drinking, you're either gonna lie, you're gonna minimize, and you're gonna get caught. And they already think so anyway. Otherwise, they wouldn't be asking.

Steve Palmer [00:03:50]:

You're gonna end up in the same boat, in other words, as if you didn't say anything. So don't think that you're gonna talk your way out of an OBI on the side of the road. You just just won't. Now there's a case. US Supreme Courts get eggheadish about it, but there's a case in the US Supreme Court called Burkimer versus McCarty. Interestingly, a guy named William Meeks, Bill Meeks, who was my mentor here at 511 South High Street in Columbus, Ohio, actually argued the case in the United States Supreme Court. And the issue in that case was whether the police had to read you Miranda rights at a routine traffic stop. Bill Meeks valiantly argued that the police should argue Miranda at a routine traffic stop.

Steve Palmer [00:04:27]:

Judge Al Travis or then prosecutor Al Travis, who later became a Franklin County judge, argued vehemently against it in front of the in front of the US Supreme Court. And lo and behold, the US Supreme Court says, no. You don't have a right to Miranda rights read to you on the side of the road at a routine traffic stop. In other words, you're not in custody for purposes of Miranda. I'm not gonna go into the the depths of that. Maybe that's a separate breakdown. But the police don't have to read you your Miranda rights. So back to the question, you have to take on the obligation yourself to educate yourself in advance and know if I get pulled over, I'm not gonna answer any questions, and it's perfectly acceptable to exercise that right.

Steve Palmer [00:05:05]:

It is your 5th Amendment right. Let's just say it's in the top five of the Constitution, so it must be important. Exercise it, and then you you don't run into these problems. Now some of the premises of the question I wanna address, and that is, you know, are all cops bad? No. Are all cops good? No. I don't care. And the reason I don't care is because we are all human, and the constitution has baked into the equation protections against this. This is why we have rights to remain silent.

Steve Palmer [00:05:30]:

This is why we have the 4th amendment. This is why we have a constitutional right later to get a lawyer and to present a defense, if you do get charged. So the the idea is to protect ourselves against bad actors. Can we always do it? No. Of course not. And, you know, police will be police. Why? Because they're human, and humans are inherently subject to the various influences. I always call them money, power, ego, that drive us to do things that we don't always or we're not always proud of or others aren't always happy about.

Steve Palmer [00:05:58]:

But if you exercise your right, if you educate yourself and you do it the right way, even if you've made the mistake on the side of the road, at least you're giving your attorney something to work with, whether you're guilty or whether you're not guilty or innocent or whatever. So there we are. We have a DUI 360 and a q and a all wrapped into 1. Thanks to Tim Carnes, 8770, who left us a comment. If you've got a question or a comment or another topic you want me to cover, it's easy. Go to lawyertalkpodcast.com. Send us an email. Check us out in the comments.

Steve Palmer [00:06:27]:

Write us a question there. We'll do our best we'll we'll do our best, to answer right here at Lawyer Talk Podcast, off the record, on the air, q and a style. Until next time.