Originally Posted by GradGirl
Law dawg,
What's the scoop with making up laws? Are you allowed to tell people they are breaking xyz law when such a law doesn't exist at all? Is that just pushing the line of ethical, is it unethical, or is it perfectly acceptable and something you'd talk about openly with your colleagues?
I have threatened to charge people with 8 USC 979, Lying to a Federal Agent (this is a ficticious charge, of course, there is no such thing), in order to scare them into telling the truth. LEOs are allowed to lie and use trickery in their interviews, as you may or may not know. It is not pushing any ethical bondry I believe in and have discussed it many times with my partners. The suspects have most of the rights and the system in their favor. Our hands are pretty well tied in many regards so I use all the tools I have to get the job done.
It should be noted that this is generally something I would do if I was pretty far into it with a suspect. It would not be something I did in an intial interview, but only in one where I was very sure the person was guilty and was being evasive or lying outright.