If you are pulled over by a cop, and know you are not over the alcohol limit, but have had one drink in the last 8 hours. If the cop asks if you have been drinking and you say no, could you potentially be charged with lieing to the police, if after a blood test it is shown that you had a very low but non-zero blood alcohol level?
Naaah. They would charge you with DUI, but not with lying to a cop.
You have to cross the line into actively obstructing the investigation or trying to hinder your prosecution. One example would be if you gave a false name because you know your drivers license is suspended. Thats hindering.
Damn forgot the disclaimer. Laws vary greatly between states. My knowledge is of New Jersey laws. Things may be different where you live.
Unless your jurisduction has a zero-limit you couldn’t be charged with DUI. In North America it’s usually .08 and Europe .05. Some places have lower limits if your under 25/21/18. If a cop asks you if you’ve done something that might be illegal you don’t have to answer as that’d be self-incrimination. Even if you lie your not under oath so it wouldn’t matter. But it could be used to make you seem less honest in front of the jury/judge.
I dunno. When I was doing civil disobedience, we had a lawyer tell us that in California, while it was perfectly legal to refuse to give any information to the cops, you had to be extremely careful not to say the least little lie to them. If they asked you your name and you answered, “Payne, Payne, ask me again and I’ll tell you the same,” they could charge you with a crime. Tell them your name was “John Doe,” and they’d charge you. Tell them “My name is the Lorax, I speak for the trees,” and they’d charge you.
Refusing to give them information, however, wasn’t a lie. So if they asked your name and you said, “I’m not telling you,” then no matter how often they threatened to charge you with obstructing an investigation, you’d be in the clear.
Daniel
Lefty that may be true during civil disobedience but not in the case proposed by the OP. If you get pulled over for some reason the officer has the right to know if you are a valid driver. If you refuse to give up your DL or enough information to find the DL info then you are obstructing.
As for cases which don’t involve driving I seem to remember that there was a recent case involving aswering basic questions that came down from a high court. I’ll try to find it. I can’t remember if this was a state or federal case.
Ok here it is, a SCOTUS ruling. From CNN :
Fair enough–and my experience was in 1991, prior to that SCOTUS ruling. I was more trying to emphasize the dangers of lying to the police, not trying to emphasize the right to withhold information; I appreciate your clarification!
Daniel
18 U.S.C. 1001 covers false statements to federal officials. Subsection (a) provides:
So, under this statute, if you lie (make a materially false statement) to a federal law enforcement officer, you can be charged.
For just one well-know example, Martha Stewart is in jail for lying to investigators. The jury did not find her guilty of the charge of actual stock fraud. So they got her on the charge of lying to investigators.
IIRC, the jury never had a chance, the charge was never brought. It was much easier to charge her with lying.
Well, almost. If the jurisdiction you’re in has a law requiring you to identify yourself if an officer asks, then you must generally do so. Such laws are constitutional, as the Court decided this year in Hiibel.
Or what Loach said.
In Washington state, you can be charged with Making a False or Misleading Statement to a Public Servant. I can’t imagine an officer actually doing so in the situation that you’ve described, but it could happen.
In this example, could you not state that you thought the officer meant ‘Have you had a drink within the last X number of hours?’ and gave what you thought was a genuine answer?
So what’s the cut off for something like drinking? I don’t drink but I have been known to sip (mostly because my friends like seeing me turn bright red) a drink (less than a mouth ful) and hours later be driving.
I wouldn’t lie to a cop on purpose but when a LEO asks “have you been drinking” it’s far too open ended.
I had a friend answer ‘yes’ after drinking a few beers 6 hours before being stopped at a ride. He had to blow a breath test and got zero. I wonder if it would have been possible to charge him for lying (for NOT drinking!) 
Give an honest answer, with a specified time limit. Like “I haven’t had a single drink this evening.”
Say’s the drunk who had 6 doubles, but no singles, hic! 