Natty Shafer Law

Utah lawyer for criminal and immigration cases

Monthly Archives: January 2014


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Just Say ‘No’ to the Police

A new 10th Circuit court case came out this morning that highlights why everyone should just refuse to give the police officers consent for just about anything. The defendant, Michael Harmon, had multiple opportunities to tell the officer “no” and missed them all.

After speaking with the police officer outside his car, the defendant was issued a written warning for failing to maintain a lane and then he was told he was free to go. As Harmon was walking back to his car, the officer called out to him and asked him if he would mind answering a few more questions. As far as the law is concerned, at this point, everything Harmon did and said to the officer was voluntary. If he had just answered that he had to get going, the officer would have had to let him go. Obviously, Harmon did not do that. The officer then asked if he could search the car, and once again, Harmon missed an opportunity to just say, “no.”

Imagine for a moment that Harmon was innocent and had nothing to hide. There still would have been no benefit for talking with the officer. It could only delay him from wherever he was headed. Yet there he was, answering questions and letting the officer search his car for evidence.

Personally, I would rather be anywhere else other than watching passively as an officer rifles through my car. He would not find anything illegal, but it would be a complete waste of my time (and potentially embarrassing) as he snoops around my personal belongings. Everyone has the right to tell a police officer they need to leave, and everyone should do so. Nothing good will come from letting an officer look around.


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Utah’s Same-sex Marriages Eligible for Immigration Benefits

Last Friday, the Department of Justice released a video (embedded below) that states explicitly the federal government will treat Utah’s same-sex marriages as “lawful and considered eligible for all federal benefits.” Currently, same-sex marriage licenses are not being issued in Utah, but couples that are already married are eligible for immigration benefits. Among those benefits are a higher priority for the receipt of green cards (i.e. permanent resident cards) and a shorter wait time to become a U.S. citizen.

For couples who can no longer become married in Utah but would like to be, it is possible to be married in other states. New Mexico and California are the closest states that currently perform same-sex marriages. Although Utah will not recognize those marriages either, the federal government will. The federal government recognizes marriages that were legal at the time the were performed, regardless of where the couples move or travel afterward.


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Utah Considering Lowering Legal Alcohol Limit

The Utah legislature is considering a bill that would lower the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) to .05, KUTV’s Rod Decker is reporting. It was inevitable that Utah would be among the first states to consider the change once the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced last May it was recommending a .05 BAC legal limit. Utah legislators are always quick to act whenever it allows them to appear more moral than their peers. With NTSB’s endorsement, Utah may not pass the law this legislative session, but you can bet that in the coming years it will happen.

Even though the change may be inevitable, that does not mean it is good policy. To borrow a term from economics, this is not the “lowest hanging fruit.” Utah consistently ranks among the bottom states in per capita DUI fatalities. To promote driving safety, Utah would have better results if it attacked other unsafe driving practices first: speeding, drowsy driving, or cell phone use. Every time a police officers pulls over a motorist, their attention is diverted away from policing anyone else. If officers start using resources to arrest someone with a BAC between .05 and .08 (the current legal limit), they may be missing out on a more serious offender. We have likely reached the point of diminishing returns where each incremental increase in DUI laws no longer yields a significant improvement in driver safety.


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Handling the Traffic Stop

At one time or another, nearly everyone will have a police officer pull their car over. While it is never going to be a great experience, there are steps you can take to prevent it from becoming a disastrous experience.

The most important step is that you remain cordial and polite to the officer. Address them as “officer” or “sir/ma’am.” The best case scenario for every traffic stop is that the officer lets you go with a warning. Politeness never hurts when a police officer is deciding whether or not to ticket you, and a police officer can nearly always find more citations to add. Do not give an officer reason to do so.

Next, to the extent possible, you want to decline to answer any questions. Yes, this can be done in a polite manner. You are required to give your driver’s license and proof of insurance when you are pulled over, but you are not required to answer questions. Almost immediately an officer will start asking questions, such as, “Do you know why I pulled you over?” Or, “Where are you coming from? Where are you heading?” Regardless of how you answer, the police officer is going to enter it into the computer and it will appear in their police report. If you have any intention of fighting the underlying charge, you do not want the officer to remember your answers. It will help the officer to distinguish you from the many other people they have pulled over. Months can pass between a citation and the trial, and it is quite possible that an officer will not remember anything about you. If an officer is honest with the judge, the case may have to be dismissed due to lack of evidence. Also, you do not want to help the prosecutor with your answers. The answers you give will help the prosecutor tell a narrative about how the traffic incident occurred. Without that narrative, a prosecutor has to tell a very boring story that begins and ends with the traffic citation. Neither judges nor juries give such stories much weight.

It should go without saying that you never impugn an officer’s motives. Most officers are just doing their jobs. Even if they are wrongly accusing you, chances are that it was an honest mistake.

Finally, you do not want to do anything to add further charges. Remain in your seatbelt, and turn off the car engine while you wait for the officer to approach. Do not consent to have the officer search the car; you are not required to consent and nothing an officer finds is going to help you. For the same reason, do not submit to field sobriety tests. You do, however, have to submit to a chemical test if an officer arrests you for a DUI. You will know you are under arrest after the officer tells you. Refusing to take a chemical test (a breathalyzer, urine analysis, or blood test) carries harsher penalties than the underlying DUI.

Following these simple steps may not prevent you from receiving a traffic ticket—the severity of the alleged offense will be taken into account—but they will improve your chances at prevailing during a trial and reduce the likelihood of additional charges being added.