Legal Question in Criminal Law in Utah

If a police officer stopped a vehicle and gave no specific reason to the driver for stopping the vehicle, can a police officer ask for drivers name in a traffic stop if answering the question would incriminate the driver (5th amendment) and if the officer "suspected" this person of a crime would they need to "mirandize" before asking any questions? Also if the officer asked if he could search the vehicle for drugs does this change the scope of the stop ( there was no specific reason given for stoping the vehicle)? The driver was not free to leave as the officer asked for his drivers license and the driver was under duress as the police officer told him that he would take him to jail but he (the officer) was the only one on duty at the time. The driver was then cited for driving on a suspended license. Please cite any case law available that may help, Thank You.

Law Student


Asked on 7/28/10, 11:23 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Cory Wall Cory R. Wall, Attorney at Law, P.C.

If you're a law student, isn't this something you should be researching and finding out on your own? There are literally thousands of cases dealing with this very issue and it is something you should be able to locate without too much difficulty.

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Answered on 8/05/10, 12:14 pm


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