Legal Question in Criminal Law in California
consciousness of guilt?
If I went to the police for help because I was afraid for the safety of myself and my family, and the police suspected me of being under the influence of drugs and asked me to test, and I refused, can they prosecute me on a "consciousness of guilt" for not testing? Is there such a thing as a "consciousness of guilt" or is it a violation of my right agaist self-incrimination?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Conciousness of guilt
Under the influence is the charge; and you already know the answer as to whether they can prosecute you.If you were arrested, the enxt question is how do you defend against the charges?No, the right of self-incrimination does not apply to giving body fluid samples.Get a lawyer ASAP.
Consciousness of guilt.
I'm not a criminal law attorney so I don't know much about this. Furthermore, I'm not trained at all in the laws of your state.
As a very general rule, if you have a constitutional right of some sort, the exercise of that right (forexample, refusing to submit to a requested search) may not be used against you to prove that you must be hiding something. In the case of submitting to analcohol screen, I'm not sure what the law is in yourstate and it could be different! In Mass., the mererefusal to submit to the test (if you're driving, anyway)brings with it an automatic penalty -- revocation of thedriver's license, considered a privilege, for some lengthof time.
Rights against self-incrimination usually apply to being forced to answer a question.
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