Pubdate: Wed, 15 Aug 2007
Source: Summit Daily News (CO)
Copyright: 2007 Summit Daily News
Contact: http://apps.summitdaily.com/forms/letter/index.php
Website: http://www.summitdaily.com/home.php
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/587
Author: Rich Moore
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n944/a05.html?75887
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

CITIZENS HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT

The story "Aspen cocaine case may not hold up" (SDN Aug. 8) made my 
blood boil. This rookie cop decides to become supercop by violating 
the rights of the citizens. Here is a fact: A citizen of this nation 
does not have to "keep talking" to police under any circumstances. 
The article says that the cop kept insisting that Greengrass keep 
talking to him: This is a violation of the law.

No citizen is required to speak with any cop whatsoever, the right to 
remain silent is absolute. The cop had no busines demanding 
conversation from the accused, none at all.

The fact that the cop had to badger the defendant into chatting to 
try and find some probable cause means he had no case at all. 
Suspicion is not reasonable grounds to believe that a crime had been 
committed. People may exchange anything or nothing and unless the cop 
has real cause to believe that a crime has occurred then he had a 
legal imperative to leave the citizens alone. To demand conversation 
was illegal, and to insist on keeping a citizen in custody and not 
free to leave because he would not speak to a cop for long enough is 
illegal and unconstitutional.

Rich Moore

Franklin, N.C.
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