# Re: What can the police lie about while conducting an interrogation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 2, 2017, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-what-can-the-police-lie-about-while-conducting-an-interrogation/778800 "2017-02-02T02:58:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-what-can-the-police-lie-about-while-conducting-an-interrogation/778800/21 "2017-02-08T21:24:33Z")
The opposite question: I heard it somewhere that it is a crime to lie to the police. While it seems like a pretty bad idea, can you be prosecuted for making false statements during questioning? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2017, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-what-can-the-police-lie-about-while-conducting-an-interrogation/778800/22 "2017-02-08T21:27:40Z")
> **[4-star general snagged for lying in Stuxnet leak probe](https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/retired-general-charged-in-probe-of-classified-information-disclosure-229891)** > > Retired Gen. James Cartwright has been charged with making false statements during a probe into the disclosure of classified information. > **[Ex-Louisiana police officer convicted for lying to FBI in civil rights case](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/08/louisiana-police-officer-guilty-fbi-civil-rights-case)** > > Willie Fred Knowles pleads guilty and faces five years in prison for pushing and hitting woman, and lying to FBI about use of force in incident > **[Ex-local police officer convicted of lying to FBI](https://www.kwtx.com/content/news/Ex-local-police-officer-convicted-of-lying-to-FBI-399709091.html)** > > A former local police officer accused of compromising a drug investigation was convicted Wednesday of lying to federal investigators. By the Feds, yes. Never heard it happening in a state case. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-what-can-the-police-lie-about-while-conducting-an-interrogation/778800/23 "2017-02-09T00:27:39Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The opposite question: I heard it somewhere that it is a crime to lie to the police. While it seems like a pretty bad idea, can you be prosecuted for making false statements during questioning? I would think you could be charged with “obstruction of justice”. False statements to the police can also be used against you in court, to impugn your credibility. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-what-can-the-police-lie-about-while-conducting-an-interrogation/778800/24 "2017-02-09T06:40:46Z")
Could be worse, the police could act like the Japanese police which interrogate suspects more than 10 hours a day for 23 days per charge behind closed doors and without a lawyer. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-what-can-the-police-lie-about-while-conducting-an-interrogation/778800/25 "2017-02-09T16:12:28Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > Well, I just have to reiterate, the book _definitely_ said police sometimes elicit a confession under false plea deals. Read the book, if you don’t believe me. (The book covers a lot of deep topics, but it written like on a 5th grade level. You can probably read the whole thing in 5 minutes. I’m serious.) And again, this was over 20 years ago, at that. > > I don’t know how they could get away with it, either. But you know, some areas of the country are much more conservative than others. And, I can’t provide a cite, but it is a well-known fact, that some lower court judges sometimes go to the beat of their own drum, a little. It is theoretically impossible. But who’s going to stop them? Judges have life-long appointment, with little oversight. > > Just something I thought I would throw out there. (Now please carry on with the rest of the discussion:).) Just because you are a judge does not mean you have a lifetime appointment. In fact that is very rare. I don’t have to read your book I do it for a living. I know what is and isn’t allowed in my state and all interviews have to be recorded. I clearly state that states can be more restrictive than the Supreme Court mandates. That was my entire point. You can’t make blanket statements about what the police are allowed to do because it is different depending on which state. > [@eschereal](#): > > The opposite question: I heard it somewhere that it is a crime to lie to the police. While it seems like a pretty bad idea, can you be prosecuted for making false statements during questioning? Again laws differ from state to state but it depends on the lie. For instance lying and saying you didn’t do it wouldn’t be a crime. Lying and giving information that someone else committed the crime could be. So is lying about your identity to avoid arrest. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-what-can-the-police-lie-about-while-conducting-an-interrogation/778800/26 "2017-02-09T16:27:46Z")
Police can lie in an interview. They can mislead, too. In fact, they often mislead a suspect into believing they know more than they do. It’s good police work. They can’t lie in the courtroom though. At least, not with immunity. The only person allowed to lie in the courtroom is the DA (prosecutor). In fact, he’s expected to lie. By lie, I mean promote facts that he merely assumed may have happened, regardless of whether he has any rational reason to believe they actually happened. The DA is free to be as creative as he chooses with respect to interpreting the evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-what-can-the-police-lie-about-while-conducting-an-interrogation/778800/27 "2017-02-10T01:16:05Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The opposite question: I heard it somewhere that it is a crime to lie to the police. While it seems like a pretty bad idea, can you be prosecuted for making false statements during questioning? You can in Colorado. There’s a law against “attempting to influence a public servant.” I think it’s an incredibly stupid law, because it’s so extremely broad. Any reasonable person would think that such a law would apply mainly to attempted bribery, but this one covers just about everything you could possibly imagine, and probably a bunch of stuff that you couldn’t imagine. Here’s an example. > [@](#): > > The man shot by a police officer outside a Fort Collins home Jan. 21 admitted that the standoff was an attempt at “suicide by cop.” > > * * * > > Snodgrass is recovering from the shooting and will be jailed upon his release on suspicion of felony menacing with a deadly weapon and attempting to influence a public servant. > **[Fort Collins officer justified in January shooting](https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/crime/2017/02/07/da-fort-collins-officer-justified-january-shooting/97605704/)** > > District attorney: Suspect Austin Snodgrass admitted to 'suicide by cop' attempt. CRS 18-8-306: “Any person who attempts to influence any public servant by means of deceit or by threat of violence or economic reprisal against any person or property, with the intent thereby to alter or affect the public servant’s decision, vote, opinion, or action concerning any matter which is to be considered or performed by him or the agency or body of which he is a member, commits a class 4 felony.” ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-what-can-the-police-lie-about-while-conducting-an-interrogation/778800/28 "2017-02-10T02:59:49Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > The only person allowed to lie in the courtroom is the DA (prosecutor). In fact, he’s expected to lie. By lie, I mean promote facts that he merely assumed may have happened, regardless of whether he has any rational reason to believe they actually happened. The DA is free to be as creative as he chooses with respect to interpreting the evidence. The counsel for the defendant is also allowed to be creative with the facts, primarily in opening and summation. There are some limits, though, and either attorney has the right to object to outrageous assertions made by the opposition. But my question might pertain to something like forfeiture. If I am stopped by an officer and he asks me if I have any cash in the car, am I going to tell him that I have four thousand dollars? Hell no, because I know he will just take it and make me jump hoops to get it back. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-what-can-the-police-lie-about-while-conducting-an-interrogation/778800/29 "2017-02-10T05:23:15Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > …The only person allowed to lie in the courtroom is the DA (prosecutor). In fact, he’s expected to lie. By lie, I mean promote facts that he merely assumed may have happened, regardless of whether he has any rational reason to believe they actually happened. The DA is free to be as creative as he chooses with respect to interpreting the evidence. Not so. A prosecutor has an ethical obligation to see that justice is done, not to get a conviction by lying, shading the truth or interpreting the evidence only in ways that are helpful to his case. “The United States Attorney [or any prosecutor] is the representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all; and whose interest, therefore, in a criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done. As such, he is in a peculiar and very definite sense the servant of the law, the twofold aim of which is that guilt shall not escape or innocence suffer. He may prosecute with earnestness and vigor - indeed, he should do so. But, while he may strike hard blows, he is not at liberty to strike foul ones. It is as much his duty to refrain from improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction as it is to use every legitimate means to bring about a just one.” _Berger v. United States_, 295 U.S. 78 (1935). Do all prosecutors meet this high ethical standard? Alas, no. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-what-can-the-police-lie-about-while-conducting-an-interrogation/778800.md?page=1)