Salanis wrote:
There's the classic cop questions regarding driving:
"Do you know why I pulled you over?" and "Do you know how fast you were going?"
You can admit ignorance of the law or knowledge of your guilt.
I didn't watch the whole lecture video. I did my time in law school. The prof is right though, you don't talk to the police.
However, as an academic matter, there are correct answers to the questions posed above.
"Am I free to leave?" always works, no matter what a cop asks. If the cop is asking you a question, it's an interrogation. If the cop says you're not free to leave, then it's custodial, and he can't ask you any questions (and get admissible answers) without reading you your Miranda rights. Obviously, if you get Mirandized, shut up!!!
If the cop says you are free to leave, say bye-bye and leave. (BTW, this always shuts the cop up and usually gets you a ticket or two or three, but at least you haven't said anything that can be used against you. All you did was ask a question about the status you were in. You can let a lawyer worry about fighting the ticket later.) This is basically the smart@$$ version of not talking at all.
For the first question: "Do you know why I pulled you over?," the correct answer is "No." You have no idea what's in the cop's head, or any reason to know. I'd actually use "no, I don't know why you pulled me over" rather than "am I free to leave."
For the second question: "Do you know how fast you were going?," the correct answer is "yes" (although I'd use "am I free to leave?". Speeding is a strict liability offense; there is no intent element. Saying no is an admission that you were not paying attention. Saying yes just means you're paying attention. Neither has anything to do with whether you were speeding or not.
Again, though, my explanation is just academic. For the reasons I'm sure the prof set out, the correct answer is to say nothing (other than I invoke my 5th amendment right not to answer questions).