Can a police officer lie about a consequence of a traffic violation they charge you with?
<p>I was pulled over for allegedly speeding less than 15 mph over the posted speed limit. As I was traveling on a minor highway a car coming from the opposite direction turned off the highway and just as I passed the turn a highway patrolman was revealed directly behind the person turning off the highway. He immediately made a u-turn across a solid double yellow line and began following me with his lights on. Upon pulling me over the police officer immediately had an aggressive body language, manner of speech and eye contact. I had a 7 month old infant in the car and my wife, and I became nervous that he would further lose control of his emotions. He asked if I knew what speed I was going at the time that I was pulled over I said I couldn't recall what my exact speed was at the time he pulled me over. He then repeatedly asked said &quot;well that means you were either purposely driving over the speed limit or you were carelessly driving&quot;. Not wanting to incriminate myself I kept repeating that I was not doing either of those things. He then said &quot;there are three options, I can take you to jail, write you a citation or give you a warning&quot;. At that point I knew this was getting serious as I had never been threatened with jail time for a traffic offense before. I kept repeating that I did not intentionally drive over the speed limit and couldn't recall the exact speed I was going at the time he pulled me over.</p>
<p>Honestly, I've replayed the situation countless times since it happened. I felt powerless to protect my wife and child from someone. I have two goals after this situation:</p>
<ol>
<li>Get out of the ticket.</li>
<li>Prevent this individual from harming other people (which I believe the only reason he didn't escalate the situation to violence is because of my calm and respectful demeanor during the entire situation)</li>
</ol>
<p>I've been advised my best course of action is to plead guilty and ask for a reduction from the judge. I honestly fear for the safety of others that this officer pulls over. I'm trying to get over my personal anger towards this officer but I also feel some level of duty to ensure this doesn't happen to someone else.</p>

<p>Despite the lengthy background, the only question seems to be:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Can a police officer lie about a consequence of a traffic violation
they charge you with?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As a matter of constitutional law in the United States, that answer is generally &quot;yes.&quot; States can impose more limitations if they like. Only a small minority of states actually do so.</p>
<p>Incidentally, an attorney, such as a deputy district attorney, is not allowed to lie about the consequences of a traffic violation, or anything else (even in extreme circumstances like a hostage situation). This violates the rules of professional conduct applicable to all attorneys.</p>
<p>This sounds like a classic &quot;driving while black&quot; situation and is probably involves unconstitutional discrimination by a government official, although proving that in an individual case is virtually impossible.</p>

<h3>Police can lie to you</h3>
<p>and</p>
<h3>You can be arrested for many traffic offenses</h3>
<p>It is well established that police have no duty to tell you the truth either intentionally or unintentionally.</p>
<p>It is also well established that in most jurisdictions there are traffic offenses that you can be arrested for.  The happens infrequently, but the option is there for the officer.  Texas, for example, states that you may not be arrested only for speeding or for open container violations.  Virginia is famous for arresting people for speeding more than 20 over or 85 regardless, which is defined in Virginia as a type of reckless driving.  This may be different in your jurisdiction.</p>

united-states police traffic