How can I defend myself against the police in these situations?

The first two answers have good information, and any lawyer would probably tell you much the same thing. However, if you try to pull any of #'s 2 - 8 you are probably going to piss off the cops, and if you insist on continuing to do them your day is probably going to get a whole lot worse.

1.) What is the difference between Reasonable Suspicion and Probable Cause? Reasonable suspicion is one step higher than a hunch. It is a suspicion based on the officer's past experiences and training. Probable Cause is a higher legal standard and it means the officer is at least 51% sure.

2.) If I'm with a friend and I get pulled over for whatever reason, can my friend record the situation? In most cases yes. In some states you could not later broadcast the identity of a juvenile (suspect or victim) or a sex assault victim's identity (adult or minor).

3.) If I get pulled over and my friend is in his car behind me, is he able to stop near the situation and start recording? As long as his car is legally parked on private property and he/she doesn't come within the 40 foot officer safety zone - should be OK. If they distract or delay the officer - they would be arrested for obstruction. Remember, police are required to seize and photographic evidence of a crime. So the camera may need to be seized.

4.) If I want to remain silent, do I have to let the officer know? I don't know of a requirement to verbalize your intentions.

5.) If officers ask if they can come in and I let them pass through my fence door into my front yard, are they able to go inside my home as well? Not if the door is closed, unless the police think its an emergency, or someone is in danger of injury or needs medical treatment or the police suspect that to wait for a warrant would allow suspects to destroy evidence.

6.) If the cops start knocking on my fence door and I we can see each other from my window and I walk away without answering them, are they able to come in anyways? The only time the police can enter without your permission is with a warrant or, the police think its an emergency, or someone is in danger of injury or needs medical treatment or the police suspect that to wait for a warrant would allow suspects to destroy evidence.

7.) What happens if you answer the cops questions in a different language? Is there a difference if you pretend like you don't understand English at all than answer formally in another language? If they later find out you were pretending you would need to be arrested for obstruction.

8.) If I'm asked to step out of my vehicle, do I have the right to refuse? No, if you delay or refuse to get out then you would be arrested for obstruction. The officer would then say you were under arrest, if you did anything to hinder or delay the officer (such as staying in the car) you would also be charged with resisting arrest.

Reasonable suspicion is basically anything the cop wants to make up to stop you and do stop and frisk on you. He is supposed to be able to articulate why he thinks you have committed a crime or are about to. Reasonable suspicion gives them the right to stop you and do a short investigation to determine if you have or are about to commit a crime. Probable cause is where they have evidence enough to arrest you. Example, cop stops you for speeding and see's a crack pipe in the back seat. That gives him probable cause to detain you and search your car without your consent.

You have the right to film the police, even if you are the one under investigation. Look up Glik vs. Cunniffe for the ruling from the First Court of Appeals. This ruling was appealed to the Supreme Court which turned it down thereby upholding the lower court ruling making it the law of the land. This means anyone can record the police in public going the business of the police.

YOu have the right to not talk to the police but you do need to say you are not going to talk to them. If you know english but pretend not to you can be charged with obstructing a police officer.

If the police were allowed to come in they wouldn't ask. The best thing to do is never open your door to cop. Talk through the door and if they don't have a warrant tell them to leave. If they had a warrant they wouldn't knock, they would just bust the door down. Once you open the door things change. They will not let you close it. They can then say they saw what they thought was something illegal in plain sight and then enter, forcefully if necessary. There is also exigent circumstances that allow them to enter without a warrant. Look it up for a better understanding of what it is.

1) probable cause is when your drugs are visible, reasonable suspicion is when they believe your underage for alchahol.

2.) yes, aslong as the officer is informed he is being recorded PRIOR to your friend starting the recording.

3.) They can't break any laws, and the same as above implies, I don't believe a 3rd party should get involved.

4.) yes, assuming you don't want a staring contest.

5.) no... Your house and yard are different..

6.) if they need to question you regarding an investigation, you are impeding an investigation.

7.) 2 possibilities... 1) some cops are bilingual, and can speak that language. 2) they will delay you until a bilingual officer arrives.

8.) no. Having you in the open is 1 of the few measures an officer can take to ensure their safety.

1) Probable cause is a stricter definition than reasonable suspicion. Reasonable suspicion is more or less any suspicion based on some specific fact, whereas probable cause requires sufficient evidence to demonstrate a prudent belief that something is wrong.

2) Different states have different laws on this. You would need to confirm this with a lawyer.

A note on this one- in cases where the police wish to search someone without a warrant, they need probable cause to do this (and if they have it, they are entitled to search). Supposedly, some people have tried recording the situation and explicitly asking "what is your probable cause" so they have it confirmed if the matter goes to court later. Whether or not this is a good idea or not, I can't tell you.

3) See above. Also, if he is not involved and is interfering, the officer may be able to order him to leave.

4) The courts are increasingly taking the position that you need to specifically invoke your right to silence for it to be fully protective. You don't specifically have to, but it is still advisable to do so.

5) Unless they have a warrant, or see evidence in plain sight, then you can ask the police to leave at any time.

6) They can go up to your door to knock on it- they are allowed to attempt to make a reasonable effort to make contact with you. You can, as mentioned, ask them to leave at any time, and as in most cases where protecting your legal rights is important, if you want to invoke your legal rights, then you should be clear in doing so (if you don't want them on your property, then you should plainly state that). This avoids them trying to change the story later.

7) If you legitimately cannot understand the language, an interpreter will be provided. If you try to pretend you can't understand English, you will only get yourself into further trouble.

8) Generally not. The police do have the power to detain someone to investigate wrongdoing, and asking you to step out of your vehicle is part of that.

For the most part, the best advice is to simply refuse to answer questions without a lawyer present. And something to understand- when using your legal rights, be clear and specific that you are doing so. Say that you don't want to talk, or that you want the officers to leave your property. It's much easier for the police to claim that you didn't refuse a request than it is for you to claim you didn't grant it.

If you try and stuff around with things like not using the same language, or just walking away without saying anything, this will just make things more problematic for you- all you do here is raise confusion which makes it possible for the police to twist the situation to their advantage later (if you don't specifically invoke a given right, you lose its full protection). And if your actions constitute obstructing police or something similar, you may even face further legal charges.

If a cop sees you swirve a few times as he is following you he may suspect that youve been drinking. Thats reasonable suspicion. If he stops you and sees a small baggie of white powder thats probable cause.

l read several of your question and l can tell you the more you act like a smart a-s the rougher what ever it is, is going to happen to you. what you are doing is asking for trouble and l can guarantee that you will get it from the police.

It's a good question!