Walk It Through: The Name
A temporary detention to learn identity, a false name as a misdemeanor, and recording in public.
Walking home late, a person is stopped by an officer who says the person matches a description and asks for a name.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One stop and one name. Whether the detention was lawful, the frisk itself, and the chapter's other exceptions are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Felony of the third degreeThe lowest felony degree, punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
- Giving a false nameGiving a false name, or otherwise falsely identifying oneself, to an officer or jail staff after being arrested or lawfully detained, a first degree misdemeanor.
- Stop and friskAn officer's temporarily detaining a person in circumstances reasonably indicating a crime, to learn the person's identity and the circumstances, for no longer than reasonably necessary and not beyond the place where it began.
- All party consentThe consent the interception chapter turns on: a person may intercept a wire, oral or electronic communication when all of the parties to it have given prior consent.
- Oral communicationA communication uttered by a person exhibiting an expectation that it is not subject to interception, under circumstances justifying that expectation.
- Public meetingA meeting of a board or commission at which official acts are to be taken, open to the public at all times, with reasonable notice. No resolution, rule or formal action is binding except as taken or made at such a meeting.