4 ms·

My understanding of the law is, cops don't have the authority to grant immunity. I would want to get that promise from a prosecutor, minimum.

DavidAdams 6y ago
That's true. The cops would have to coordinate with the DA to make that happen. Which they would never bother to do unless they really needed your testimony, which is why it's a good way to get them to buzz off.
dmurray 6y ago
According to the article it's OK for the cops to lie about almost anything. There's not a lot to stop them saying "I have the authority to grant immunity" or "I am an official from the DA's office" or "I just called the DA and he approved the immunity" or "I just called the DA and he approved the immunity and he sent this confirmation by fax". Some of these might not really be de jure OK for the cops to tell you, but would you want to rely on a court upholding that?
- nullc 6y ago
  Police have even pretended to be the accused's attorney-- not lawful-- but generally the only consequence of an unlawful interrogation technique is that they lose the conviction. ( https://reason.com/2011/03/08/tennessee-cops-posed-as-a-defe/ https://reason.com/2011/03/08/tennessee-cops-posed-as-a-defe... in this case, the trial court even allowed it-- it had to get overturned on appeal ) There is a whole subreddit (/r/legaladvice) where the moderators are all (almost all?) law enforcement officers, where they remove good information from actual attorneys and promote bogus "cop law" that is highly detrimental to the interests of the users.
  - selimthegrim 6y ago
    My favorite is when they denied an insufficiently formal request for counsel. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/10/suspect-asks-for-a-lawyer-dawg-judge-says-he-asked-for-a-lawyer-dog.html https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/10/suspect-asks-for...
    - jakelazaroff 6y ago
      That is horrifying.
- spacemanmatt 6y ago
  Agreed. In addition to my belief that they lack authority, I know that it would be extremely uncommon for a cop to be able to provide a notarized document that would protect later when the cop denies his verbal grant of immunity.
35fbe7d3d5b9 6y ago
They don't, so the absolute best case outcome of "asking a police officer for immunity" is "nothing happens". The worst case outcome is that police officer testifying to a jury that you agreed to answer questions about a crime once you had immunity. This is a terrible plan that ends terribly for you. Smart people think they'll be able to logic and reason themselves out of the crosshairs of the criminal justice system. But they're playing a game they don't know how to play and the odds are stacked for the house.

DavidAdams 6y ago

That's true. The cops would have to coordinate with the DA to make that happen. Which they would never bother to do unless they really needed your testimony, which is why it's a good way to get them to buzz off.

dmurray 6y ago

According to the article it's OK for the cops to lie about almost anything. There's not a lot to stop them saying "I have the authority to grant immunity" or "I am an official from the DA's office" or "I just called the DA and he approved the immunity" or "I just called the DA and he approved the immunity and he sent this confirmation by fax". Some of these might not really be de jure OK for the cops to tell you, but would you want to rely on a court upholding that?

nullc 6y ago
Police have even pretended to be the accused's attorney-- not lawful-- but generally the only consequence of an unlawful interrogation technique is that they lose the conviction. ( https://reason.com/2011/03/08/tennessee-cops-posed-as-a-defe/ https://reason.com/2011/03/08/tennessee-cops-posed-as-a-defe... in this case, the trial court even allowed it-- it had to get overturned on appeal ) There is a whole subreddit (/r/legaladvice) where the moderators are all (almost all?) law enforcement officers, where they remove good information from actual attorneys and promote bogus "cop law" that is highly detrimental to the interests of the users.
- selimthegrim 6y ago
  My favorite is when they denied an insufficiently formal request for counsel. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/10/suspect-asks-for-a-lawyer-dawg-judge-says-he-asked-for-a-lawyer-dog.html https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/10/suspect-asks-for...
  - jakelazaroff 6y ago
    That is horrifying.
spacemanmatt 6y ago
Agreed. In addition to my belief that they lack authority, I know that it would be extremely uncommon for a cop to be able to provide a notarized document that would protect later when the cop denies his verbal grant of immunity.

35fbe7d3d5b9 6y ago

They don't, so the absolute best case outcome of "asking a police officer for immunity" is "nothing happens". The worst case outcome is that police officer testifying to a jury that you agreed to answer questions about a crime once you had immunity. This is a terrible plan that ends terribly for you. Smart people think they'll be able to logic and reason themselves out of the crosshairs of the criminal justice system. But they're playing a game they don't know how to play and the odds are stacked for the house.