Know Your Rights: Falls Church Criminal Cases

In certain cases in Falls Church, people may end up facing criminal charges because they are not aware of their legal rights when interacting with law enforcement. For this reason, it is imperative to be knowledgeable about your rights, and to contact an experienced Falls Church criminal attorney immediately if you believe you may be charged with a crime.

Scenario 1: Police Come to My Door to Ask Me Questions

When the police come to your door to ask you questions, your rights depend on what type of interaction the police are attempting to have with you. An officer who is asking for permission to do something is usually asking for that permission because they do not have a legal basis to do it without your consent. They want you to consent to the search or speak with them or something similar. Accordingly, if they are ever asking your permission to do something, you have the absolute right to say no. That said, you should always be polite, respectful, and cooperative when you answer these requests, even if you are simply telling them that you do not want to make a statement.

Sometimes officers who come to your door will tell you they will get a search warrant if you do not consent to letting them into your house or to speaking with them. They can potentially do that, but they are going to need probable cause to obtain a warrant, and you saying no and refusing that search or that entry is sufficient reason by itself for them not to be able to.

If the police do have a legal right to search you or to detain you when they knock on your door, you will be able to tell because they will have a search warrant or an arrest warrant. If they have a search warrant, take a look very carefully at that search warrant and make sure that the address is correct, that the items in there are specified, and that you take note of any other specific requirements of the warrant.

Should I Just Let Them In To Show I Have Nothing to Hide?

You should absolutely not let police officers in to show them you have nothing to hide, even if you do not think you have done anything wrong. You do not know what the police officers are looking for, what their motivation is, or what they could potentially use against you later on.

If you let them in to look around, things they find that seem to you innocent or do not seem like evidence of anything whatsoever, might be used against you later on in court. Letting law enforcement in to show them you have nothing to hide can only hurt you and open you up to potential evidence being used in a case against you.

Scenario 3: A Police Officer Stops Me on the Street

If a police officer stops you on the street, your rights at that moment depend on the circumstances surrounding your interaction with the police officers. If a police officer wants to stop you and talk to you without your consent, they need what is called reasonable suspicion in order to do so. If they have reasonable suspicion, law enforcement officers do have the right to stop you to determine whether or not you are committing a crime, and as part of this, they will probably ask your name. If you are asked, you must identify yourself.

The best thing to do if a police officer stops you on the street is to simply identify yourself and then ask them if you are being detained or arrested for anything. If a police officer tells you that you are not being detained or arrested, then at that point you should politely and quietly walk away.

How Do I Know If I Am Being Detained Or Arrested?

There are different ways to be in custody or detained by a police officer, even if you are not physically in handcuffs, taken into a police car, or put in the back of a police car by a police officer. This will be any situation where a reasonable person does not feel as though they could walk away. The easiest way to determine whether or not you are in custody is to ask if you are free to go. That forces them to tell you whether or not you are free to go, and if you are not, you are being detained or are in custody. If you are free to go, you should walk away.

Scenario 5: An Officer Asks to Search My Vehicle

If an officer is asking your permission to do something, for example speak with you, search your home, or in this case search your vehicle, you do not have to consent and you should not consent. An officer will ask to search your vehicle for one reason only, and that is to try to find evidence of a crime. If they are asking for your permission to do so, that means they probably do not have a legal basis to do it without your consent.

By giving them consent to search your vehicle, all you are doing is giving them the opportunity to potentially find evidence to use against you. Not consenting may seem to you as though you are trying to hide something, and the officer might even ask you whether you will not allow the search because you have something to hide. However, you should not let that persuade you into allowing the officer to search your vehicle.