Hello again rambler-ga;
This one is a bit trickier and may depend on what state we?re talking
about. So let me give you some ?general? information about a like the
situation you?ve described.
QUESTION: If a person is NOT a suspect, but may have information that
could be helpful, can the police force that person to go to the police
station?
ANSWER: NO. There?s no more complicated explanation needed here. If a
person is not suspected of a crime the police have no authority
whatsoever to force him to do ANYTHING against his will ? period.
QUESTION: If a person IS a suspect but has not been charged, can the
police force him into a line-up?
ANSWER: The answer is, SOMETIMES (because it depends on what your
definitions of ?lineup? and ?force? are). In most states a person who
is suspected of committing a crime can be detained for a short period
of time, during which police might arrange for a physical lineup. They
might offer the suspect an opportunity to participate in the lineup to
clear his name ? which he may or may not accept. As a rule however,
uncharged ?suspects? are not snatched off the street and placed in a
lineup for someone to identify them as the perpetrator of a crime.
This is simply not done. In fact, citing Terry v. Ohio (known as the
landmark ?stop and frisk? case) a victim or witness must be taken to
the location of the temporarily detained ?suspect? for identification
because the Supreme Court has determined that to bring a suspect to
the victim or witness tends to immediately prejudice those people
against the detained party, even though he may not be the actual
perpetrator. You see what I mean? The overwhelming desire for justice,
especially in a situation where emotions are running high can
sometimes convince victims and witnesses that the person delivered to
them by the police in handcuffs for identification is, without a
doubt, the guy who did it because he showed up in cuffs and in the
back of a police car. This has become so fundamental that even a first
year lawyer can get this type of field ID thrown out of court. So, the
Supreme Court put a stop to it altogether, suggesting instead that it
was much more fair for all parties of the victim is taken to the
detained suspect?s location.
Furthermore, police cannot transport anyone (not under arrest)
anywhere unless they go willingly. Otherwise, if the witness or victim
does not positively identify him as the perpetrator and he is
subsequently released, he has a valid claim of false arrest. A
suspected either grants permission to transport him and goes willingly
or he is arrested and is taken against his will. It can?t be both ways
because it is not constitutionally or legally possible to ?UN?arrest
someone. Once they are arrested they have the right to due process.
Prior to some of these landmark cases this did in fact occur on a
regular basis but not anymore (except on TV).
Now, if the police convince a guy to come to the station and answer
some questions and he CONSENTS, they may, with his permission, take a
photograph of him (which they may use for whatever purpose they deem
necessary once they obtain it). But keep in mind that because we have
a right to remain silent, we also have the right to stop answering
questions at ANY TIME and end the interrogation whenever we want. This
is especially true if the suspect consented to the interrogation in
the first place. From this photo they may arrange a ?photo lineup?
with or without the suspect?s permission or knowledge. This is what
most agencies do nowadays. The police may also acquire a suspect?s
driver license photo, school photo or any other photo that is in the
public domain and use that with or without the suspect?s permission,
but they may not detain the suspect against his will for an inordinate
period of time unless they charge him with a crime. On the other hand
the police may ask a suspect to come to the station to answer
questions and he may tell them, ?You must be outta your mind, pal? and
there?s not a single thing they can do about it unless they have
reason to arrest him.
I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher |
