When Police Stop You
Section 30-22-3 — concealing a true name to obstruct the law is a petty misdemeanor
Concealing identity is concealing one's true name or identity, or disguising oneself, with intent to obstruct the due execution of the law, or with intent to intimidate, hinder or interrupt a public officer or any other person in the legal performance of their duty or the exercise of their rights. It is a petty misdemeanor.
Who handles this in New Mexico: Enlace Comunitario; and legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the New Mexico directory.
Resisting, evading or obstructing an officer, a misdemeanor, includes intentionally fleeing or evading an officer when the person knows the officer is trying to apprehend or arrest them.
The Fourth Amendment sets limits on every stop, and the Supreme Court of the United States has drawn several of them. It has held that a stop is reasonable where the officer has probable cause to believe a traffic violation occurred, whatever the officer's actual motive; that an officer making a lawful stop may order the driver, and the passengers, out of the vehicle; that a passenger is seized by the stop and may challenge it; and that a stop may last no longer than its purpose requires, so it may not be extended for a dog sniff without separate reasonable suspicion. It has also held that consent to a search has to be voluntary, judged on all the circumstances, and that the prosecution does not have to prove the person knew they could refuse. Those holdings are a floor: a state's own constitution and statutes can give more protection than they do, never less.
Sources for this section (8)
- NMSA 1978, § 30-22-3 — Concealing identity
- NMSA 1978, § 30-22-1 — Resisting, evading or obstructing an officer
- Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806 (1996) — A traffic stop is reasonable when there is probable cause of a traffic violation
- Pennsylvania v. Mimms, 434 U.S. 106 (1977) — An officer may order the driver out of a lawfully stopped car
- Maryland v. Wilson, 519 U.S. 408 (1997) — An officer may order passengers out of a lawfully stopped car
- Brendlin v. California, 551 U.S. 249 (2007) — A passenger is seized by a traffic stop and may challenge it
- Rodriguez v. United States, 575 U.S. 348 (2015) — A stop may not be extended beyond its purpose to run a dog sniff
- Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218 (1973) — Consent to a search must be voluntary
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of November 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed New Mexico attorney.