Charles David Thompson

Attorney at Law

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: FAILURE TO IDENTIFY

August 13, 2012 By Charles Thompson

In post entitled “What You Need To Know,” I will attempt to address questions that I tend to have been asked in the past on multiple occasions.

I am often asked, “When I am confronted by a police officer, what information do I have to give him?”

The short answer is no information at all, until you are arrested. From a realistic standpoint your chances of being arrested go way up if you refuse to give the officer any information. Further, once you are arrested you will have to give the information like name, residential address and date of birth. You DO NOT have to give a police officer any other information like’ “How many drinks you had.” or “Were you in the house, etc.” Giving the officers additional information often times just helps them make a case against you.

Sec. 38.02 of the Texas Penal Code is instructive :”(a) A person commits the offense [of failure to identify] if he intentionally refuses to give his name, residence address, or date of birth to a peace officer who has lawfully arrested the person and requested the information.” The key to this statute is that is is required AFTER ARREST and the person must know the requester is a peace officer.

Filed Under: Police Tagged With: Failure to Identify

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