Legal rammifcations of lying to police

[Denny_Crane]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas

I'm putting together an article on a persons rights (Miranda, amendments, plain view and such) and I'm wondering what can you be charged with for intentionally lying to police, like perhaps asked about drugs and denying having any only to be found later. Is there any charges for lying to police even though you are not under oath to tell the truth?

I was always lead to believe while things will be more difficult for you if you lye to a law enforcement officer there are no legal charges against it

Also why can police lie to you about things (undercover, what evidence they have, ect) but you can be charged if caught lying to them?

Thank you

[FlyingRon]

We don't do homework.

[Denny_Crane]

Afraid it isnt homework. I have no intention of passing my bar.

This is going to be a simple legal guide, covering everything from stop to jury on your rights and what you should do to provide your best possible defense (like not letting police search without a warrent, not making deals without a lawyer or confessing. ect)

It is a free guide i intend to give to many sites (including this one) so people can print it out to keep or give to loved ones, im sure lawyers wont need it but the average citizen whom is ignorant of their rights can read and use since ignorance is not a defense

This is about the only peice of information I am still missing, how far do you have to lie before it becomes obstruction of justice?

And still wondering why police can lie but you cant.

Creative police tactics doesnt mean creative citizen tactics?

[Zigner]

Originally Posted by Denny_Crane

Afraid it isnt homework. I have no intention of passing my bar.

This is going to be a simple legal guide, covering everything from stop to jury on your rights and what you should do to provide your best possible defense (like not letting police search without a warrent, not making deals without a lawyer or confessing. ect)

It is a free guide i intend to give to many sites (including this one) so people can print it out to keep or give to loved ones, im sure lawyers wont need it but the average citizen whom is ignorant of their rights can read and use since ignorance is not a defense

This is about the only peice of information I am still missing, how far do you have to lie before it becomes obstruction of justice?

And still wondering why police can lie but you cant.

Creative police tactics doesnt mean creative citizen tactics?

You should pay an attorney to do your research...we don't do "homework"...whether imposed by a school or by a pet project.

[Silverplum]

Originally Posted by Zigner

You should pay an attorney to do your research...we don't do "homework"...whether imposed by a school or by a pet project.

Seconded. Thirded. Wherever I landed in the queue!

The questions asked would require many hours of research/reading/distillation -- for each state. We are not here for that.

[Denny_Crane]

Okay, thanks for your help anyways. Ill simply just state your always have a right to remain silent and it can never be used against you.

[quincy]

You should make sure your guide is properly edited for spelling and grammatical errors. No one will take seriously a legal guide that has "warrant" spelled "warrent." And for words like "piece" - remember "i" before "e" except after c. And "lye" is an alkaline substance not often used in legal guides, whereas "lie" might be.

Good luck.

[CdwJava]

There are too many contextual issues involved with lying to be addressed here. It all depends on who is doing the lying, who or what they are lying about, and maybe even why they are lying? For instance, lying about whether you have seen a person with a traffic warrant may not be criminal, but lying about knowing the whereabouts fo a wanted killer could be.

It's not a simple question that can be answered briefly without being very, very general.

And, the person answering it would have to have relevant knowledge of Texas law. Have you considered speaking to a local prosecutor?

- Carl

[tranquility]

What makes you think silence can't be used against you?