4 ms·

> "Ok. Is there anyone else in the house?" > "No sir." > They opened up two doors and found my roommates sleeping. "Who is this?" > "Oh, those are my roommat

> "Ok. Is there anyone else in the house?" > "No sir." > They opened up two doors and found my roommates sleeping. "Who is this?" > "Oh, those are my roommates." I didn't realize it was 8 am. I was up late the night before, and I figured it was ten or eleven already, and that they had left for work. That's making false statements, a felony punishable by up to five years in federal prison.

patchtopic 4y ago
not quite.
trillic 4y ago
..and that's why you never, ever, speak to a police officer. If a police officer wants to talk to you, they are probably conducting a criminal investigation. Do yourself a favor and exercise your right to remain silent.
- paulpauper 4y ago
  not quite so. you may still be required to identify yourself and they may run background check
2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
It is a felony to knowingly give false statements, meaning to lie.
- FoomFries 4y ago
  But then you have a case where the officer will try and use what you said against you. So, even if it wasn’t knowingly in truth, in practice it will be up to you to defend that truth. Whereas silence saves you the hassle.
  - 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
    In practice, good-faith and respectful interactions with law enforcement have a positive outcome.
    - adgjlsfhk1 4y ago
      unfortunately the positive outcome they often have is teaching people that is a very bad idea to have goid-faith interactions with last enforcement.
    - folsom 4y ago
      In practice paying a lawyer $250/hour to sit with you while you answer questions (or not answer) is cheaper than missing out on five years of income and all of the other consequences that come with going to prison.
    - muaytimbo 4y ago
      Somehow, I doubt you have much "practicing" this.
    - stavros 4y ago
      Good faith and respect in interactions with law enforcement only seems to go one way, though.
- SaintGhurka 4y ago
  "It is a felony to knowingly give false statements" I think that's only true if you lie to a federal agent. Lying to a cop is usually a misdemeanor. Depends on the state and the circumstances.
jjulius 4y ago
It's worth highlighting that it doesn't seem as though this caused any issue whatsoever for the author.
- bitwize 4y ago
  Had the government wanted to give him a harder time than they did, it could've been a significant issue. FBI agents are trained in interrogation techniques designed to manipulate you into saying contradictory things, for the sole purpose of being able to slap you with a false-statements charge in case they can't get enough on you to convict you of the crime they were actually investigating.
  - mkl95 4y ago
    Any idea why they do this? Is it a PR thing? Some angle like 95% of our suspects are convicted within 5 years.
    - michaelt 4y ago
      Some people hear "Al Capone was only ever jailed for tax evasion" and think to themselves "that murderer deserved to be in jail, getting him jailed was just even if it wasn't for his biggest crimes"
    - j33zusjuice 4y ago
      There are historical reasons, like the fact that LE was created to protect a special class), which deeply impact the way LE is trained, which dictates how LE interacts with normal people. There’s what you suggested, that they want great stats, because political careers are made off of stats, and winning high profile cases (there’s a long list of questionable cases where DAs railroaded a person or group just before they ran for governor or congress. The book “Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice” discusses a lot of the failings of the system, and gives suggestions on how to fix the system without tearing it down. In discussing the failings, he gives a lot of thoughts on why things are as they are, etc. It’s a pretty easy read. In case you missed the link on the origins of police somewhere else in the comments: https://worxintheory.wordpress.com/2014/12/07/origins-of-the-police/ https://worxintheory.wordpress.com/2014/12/07/origins-of-the...
googlryas 4y ago
It's not illegal to make false statements in this context. It's illegal to knowingly and willfully make false statements. If later, the author said something like "I was talking to my roommate in his room just before you guys knocked on the door", then he might be charged with a felony. But the statement by itself was fine, even if false. 18 U.S. Code § 1001

patchtopic 4y ago

not quite.

trillic 4y ago

..and that's why you never, ever, speak to a police officer. If a police officer wants to talk to you, they are probably conducting a criminal investigation. Do yourself a favor and exercise your right to remain silent.

paulpauper 4y ago
not quite so. you may still be required to identify yourself and they may run background check

2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago

It is a felony to knowingly give false statements, meaning to lie.

FoomFries 4y ago
But then you have a case where the officer will try and use what you said against you. So, even if it wasn’t knowingly in truth, in practice it will be up to you to defend that truth. Whereas silence saves you the hassle.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
  In practice, good-faith and respectful interactions with law enforcement have a positive outcome.
  - adgjlsfhk1 4y ago
    unfortunately the positive outcome they often have is teaching people that is a very bad idea to have goid-faith interactions with last enforcement.
  - folsom 4y ago
    In practice paying a lawyer $250/hour to sit with you while you answer questions (or not answer) is cheaper than missing out on five years of income and all of the other consequences that come with going to prison.
  - muaytimbo 4y ago
    Somehow, I doubt you have much "practicing" this.
  - stavros 4y ago
    Good faith and respect in interactions with law enforcement only seems to go one way, though.
SaintGhurka 4y ago
"It is a felony to knowingly give false statements" I think that's only true if you lie to a federal agent. Lying to a cop is usually a misdemeanor. Depends on the state and the circumstances.

jjulius 4y ago

It's worth highlighting that it doesn't seem as though this caused any issue whatsoever for the author.

bitwize 4y ago
Had the government wanted to give him a harder time than they did, it could've been a significant issue. FBI agents are trained in interrogation techniques designed to manipulate you into saying contradictory things, for the sole purpose of being able to slap you with a false-statements charge in case they can't get enough on you to convict you of the crime they were actually investigating.
- mkl95 4y ago
  Any idea why they do this? Is it a PR thing? Some angle like 95% of our suspects are convicted within 5 years.
  - michaelt 4y ago
    Some people hear "Al Capone was only ever jailed for tax evasion" and think to themselves "that murderer deserved to be in jail, getting him jailed was just even if it wasn't for his biggest crimes"
  - j33zusjuice 4y ago
    There are historical reasons, like the fact that LE was created to protect a special class), which deeply impact the way LE is trained, which dictates how LE interacts with normal people. There’s what you suggested, that they want great stats, because political careers are made off of stats, and winning high profile cases (there’s a long list of questionable cases where DAs railroaded a person or group just before they ran for governor or congress. The book “Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice” discusses a lot of the failings of the system, and gives suggestions on how to fix the system without tearing it down. In discussing the failings, he gives a lot of thoughts on why things are as they are, etc. It’s a pretty easy read. In case you missed the link on the origins of police somewhere else in the comments: https://worxintheory.wordpress.com/2014/12/07/origins-of-the-police/ https://worxintheory.wordpress.com/2014/12/07/origins-of-the...

googlryas 4y ago

It's not illegal to make false statements in this context. It's illegal to knowingly and willfully make false statements. If later, the author said something like "I was talking to my roommate in his room just before you guys knocked on the door", then he might be charged with a felony. But the statement by itself was fine, even if false. 18 U.S. Code § 1001