Arrest

Police are threatening to arrest

Wisconsin
Can the police arrest someone because that person refuses to answer a question? The police keep calling my son to ask him questions about a car he previously owned. It fits the description of a car involved in a hit and run. He has'nt been charged w/ anything. My son does not feel comfortable giving out the name and address of his cousin to the police. He is the one the car was sold to. The police are now threatening to arrest him if he does not tell them what they want to know. Can they do that? Or is this a scare tactic? I know that the police will lie to someone in order to get the info they want.

Google "Obstruction of justice".

Yes, they can.

cyjeff said:

Google "Obstruction of justice".

Yes, they can.

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This is U.S. law (not Russian)

He has a right to remain silent. He does not have to say anything.

Obstruction of Justice would be if he lied to the investigators or destroyed evidence.

lenny71 said:

He has a right to remain silent. He does not have to say anything.

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The right to remain silent actually refers to the right to not say anything that might incriminate one's self, not necessarily allowing one the right to refuse to snitch on somebody else.

Anyways, as long as the police are merely asking questions, then it is true that the questions don't truly need to be answered. However, you need to keep in mind that if your son is subpoenaed to the stand, then he absolutely will be required to divulge all information or he will go to jail.

Supoened to testify at a trial is not an arrest. Even then the worst he could be charged with (if he said nothing in court after being supoened) is 'contempt of court/failure to testify' and then it would not be the police (but the court) asking the questions. It is rare, but he could go to jail for failing to testify in the courtroom under oath. That is if he sits in the witness stand and says nothing. This is not the scenario the OP is describing.

He ABSOLUTELY does not have to talk to the police about anything (regarding himself or his cousin).

If somehow they were to gather enough evidence against his cousin without him to have a trial, then theoretically the DA could supoena your son to testify in court. Of course the DA would have to assume he was a hostile witness and also would have to gamble on what your son might say.

The point here is you have a right to remain silent when questioned by the police (no matter who or what it is about) and it is often best to do so.

The police cannot arrest someone because that person refuses to answer a question. If someone tells you different, they are watching too much Matlock.

The Occultist said:

The right to remain silent actually refers to the right to not say anything that might incriminate one's self, not necessarily allowing one the right to refuse to snitch on somebody else.

Anyways, as long as the police are merely asking questions, then it is true that the questions don't truly need to be answered. However, you need to keep in mind that if your son is subpoenaed to the stand, then he absolutely will be required to divulge all information or he will go to jail.

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That's not correct.

Your son should refuse to speak to the police. He should retain an attorney and tell the police to contact him/her instead.

If he is subpoenaed, either by the grand jury or by either party at trial, he will do exactly the same thing - he'll assert his Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate himself (if the Government / People object to this on the grounds that what he'll say isn't inculpatory, he can make an ex parte showing to the judge that it could, it's not a tough standard to meet). Then he won't have to testify. The Government has a choice at that point - offer him immunity or let him not testify.

If they grant him immunity, then he must testify.

Jobbo said:

he'll assert his Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate himself

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Nice try. The OP said,

My son does not feel comfortable giving out the name and address of his cousin to the police.

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This has nothing to do with incriminating himself, it's about giving out a name and address of somebody else.

The Occultist said:

Nice try. The OP said,



This has nothing to do with incriminating himself, it's about giving out a name and address of somebody else.

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They're not calling to ask questions about his cousin. OP said:

"The police keep calling my son to ask him questions about a car he previously owned. It fits the description of a car involved in a hit and run. He has'nt been charged w/ anything."

Sounds like he could incriminate himself - the police could (mistakenly, it might be) think he sold the car to his cousin AFTER the hit and run, or any number of incriminating things about her son. There's no reason for him to put himself in a worse legal position. Assert the 5th and get a lawyer to deal with this.

If the car is identified as being his, and he is still the registered owner, he just might become the suspect. And, since there appears to be no transfer of registration my guess is that junior is still the registered owner.

- Carl

CdwJava said:

If the car is identified as being his, and he is still the registered owner, he just might become the suspect. And, since there appears to be no transfer of registration my guess is that junior is still the registered owner.

- Carl

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Agreed.

he doesn't have to answer the questions... he could just be arrested instead for the hit and run.