The 5th Amendment to the United States Constitution affirms citizens’ right not to talk to investigating authorities. It’s what they’re referring to when you see cops in movies tell people “you have the right to remain silent”
Right to remain silent… Most people have no idea what they should do in that situation, and they get some shitty free lawyer that loses the case in court. The justice system in the US is ridiculous. :)
Rich people do what the hell they want, poor people get treated like dog shit.
Very true. Its literally their job to be actually smart human beings with a good sense of morailty, but they prefer to be the moralizer and make you talk shit that brings to to trouble. They can literally carry guns (exclusively in Germany) and restrict you how they want.
I experiences other peoples troubles in car lobby protests in munich. It was insane, the city was completely full of cops, defending this insanity as if it was an important legal asset
A fifth and a handle are two different sizes. A fifth is 750 ml ≈ .2 gallon ( US customary) while a handle is 1.75 L ≈ .46 gallon ( us customary). note 1 gal ( US ) = .8gal ( imperial )
Without any crime to suspect you of, they might detain you and question you. It’s not uncommon for people to turn themselves in for crimes, and there are legitimate reasons to do so especially with a lawyer, namely to get out on bail easier, avoid having the police raid your home or place of work, and perhaps used to sway the prosecution for a more favorable sentencing, but if the police have no clue what to even charge you for and they can’t figure one out, they’ll just be confused and frustrated, which is a dangerous combination for police
Hold you for 24 hours to see if anyone reports a crime and describes you as the perpetrator.
When no one does, find a crime which seems plausible for you, and where they’ve gotten a description that could possibly fit you.
Interrogate you about it, giving you your lawyer of course. Assuming you do not have a solid alibi for that particular crime, there’s a real chance you’ll be charged and eventually convicted.
If you do have a solid alibi, they might keep looking for other crimes to charge you with, or they might give up.
If they give up, they’re likely to charge you with something related to wasting their time, for which you will at minimum have to pay a fine.
Of course without committing a crime before and without saying anything else.
You will probably commit a crime or misdemeanor unknowingly on the way to the station. There is a reason you do not talk to the police, even if you think you’re completely innocent.
They’d probably call social services or a doctor because someone going on about a “fifth amendment” in Switzerland is clearly in need of medical attention
I once read about a man who was arrested in (I think) either Serbia or Croatia who told the police that he was taking the “fifth amendment” because he’d seen that on TV in a dubbed American show and thought he could do that there too.
ETA: And many people in German-speaking countries think that if you get arrested by police in a German-speaking country, you are read a translated Miranda warning: “Sie haben das Recht zu schweigen. Alles, was Sie sagen, kann vor Gericht gegen Sie verwendet werden. Sie haben das Recht auf einen Anwalt. Wenn Sie sich keinen Anwalt leisten können, wird Ihnen vom Gericht einer zugeteilt.”
Good question. There are probably some constellations where the police would be like: We got plenty of matching testimonies for you. We charge you and this could send you to jail for 80 years or you pleat guilty and accept 5 years.
Criminal Code (StGB) § Section 145d Pretending to have committed a criminal offense
(1) Any person who, contrary to his better knowledge, pretends to an authority or to a body competent to receive reports that an unlawful act has been committed […] shall be liable to a custodial sentence not exceeding three years or to a monetary penalty […].
The last words Michael Chad Breinholt heard were, “You’re about to die, my friend.”
[…]
With his hands cuffed behind his back, he briefly wrestled with two officers. One screamed that Breinholt was grabbing his holstered gun. Sgt. Tyler Longman rushed into the room, made his declaration and fired.
This argument states if an exception exists or has to be stated, then this exception proves that there must be some rule to which the case is an exception.
I live in New Zealand so me rambling about "the fifth" would probably make them call Social Services to come and help me since I would seem to be suffering from a mental health event.
Either that or they would think I was trolling and send me on my way with a stern reminder that wasting police time is a criminal offence.
@Ilovethebomb yeah I met a "Trump supporter" here in NZ once. If we have a lot of them, it's probably an indication that we're underfunding mental health and education.
Thank you for helping to prove my point. When the OP was saying take the fifth he was talking in a genetic way. In other words walking into the police station and taking that countries variation of the fifth. He just didn’t bother typing it fully out like that because it was obvious what his point was. It’s obvious that new Zealand doesn’t have the literal fifth amendment but they have the equivalent of it. Again thank you for helping to prove my point.
When I asked “doesn’t new Zealand have that concept” I new they did. I was trying to get you to understand what the op was trying to say.
I know that. I was trying to get him to understand that the op was talking in a generic sense. Both op and myself realize that new Zealand has an equivalent concept of the fifth. Op wasn’t trying to say walk in and literally say “plead the fifth” but walk in and do the equivalent of that.
People get way to literal when they don’t need to be.
You’re right. I thought everyone here knows “the 5th” and it’s just shorter than “the right to remain silent”. However, most people seem to have got the right idea.
the fifth ? are you sure ? it’s a little old-school, evokes holy music… I would go for the third and the seventh instead, just to shake things up. Cops aren’t used to daring chords like these, you’d totally destabilize them and they wouldn’t be able to jail you
In my state a police sergeant can have you held for a psychiatric examination if they determine that you are a possible threat to yourself or others. You’d be transported under guard to the nearest locked ER and be examined. If you kept playing games you could spend 30 days in a locked ward and be liable for the bill.
If the cops decide to be extra nice to you, they could get you a public defender. They’d be overworked and advise you to stop playing games.
Interesting. Where I’m at any cop can hold you for a psych eval, but they have to have damning evidence that you will hurt yourself or others. I’m pretty sure no cop here, and by extension their department, or the doctor at the hospital, would be willing to risk a lawsuit because you refused to answer questions about a crime. The civil rights violation (because they’re retaliating for you taking the 5th), would be a bonus on top of the unlawful detention.
The situation posited means OP is either crazy or stupid. Either they are a psychiatric patient who has knowledge of a crime, or they are some kind of jerk who is wasting the time of the police and hospital. Depending on how the “patient” presented themselves, I think that most judges and juries would side with holding them. Also, by claiming they have information, the cops would be within their rights to hold the ‘patient’ as a material witness.
“Interfering with government operations” is a crime in most places. I used to work in public health field, and I have absolutely no patience with people who use first responders of any type as playthings. If you feel the need to act out, hire a professional and leave the civil servants alone.
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