The Fifth Amendment gives us the Right not to be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against ourselves. When we are stopped at a vehicle checkpoint and are asked by a cop if we have had any alcohol to drink, does that question also initiate the criminal case against us? Or does the act of seizure initiate the criminal case against us?
Does answering "no comment", or refusing to answer, create probable cause? Would there be a way to answer, without lying (assuming we were drinking alcohol), that would not create probable cause?
If it is reasonable to assume that any answer other than "no, I did not drink alcohol" will cause a cop to determine she has probable cause, is it then reasonable to lie, knowing that any truth or any noncommittal statement would be, in essence, an admission of guilt we have the Right to not be compelled into giving?
Does answering "no comment", or refusing to answer, create probable cause? Would there be a way to answer, without lying (assuming we were drinking alcohol), that would not create probable cause?
If it is reasonable to assume that any answer other than "no, I did not drink alcohol" will cause a cop to determine she has probable cause, is it then reasonable to lie, knowing that any truth or any noncommittal statement would be, in essence, an admission of guilt we have the Right to not be compelled into giving?
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