Yes.

Unfortunately many people find this out too late.  Law enforcement officers are allowed to tell you a boldface lie in order to get you to confess to a crime.  To their credit, they are good at it, too.  They may get you in a room and tell you that your friend is in the next room and he has already confessed.  Or they may tell you that they found a weapon or drugs in your car, and you better “explain” it.  They may tell you “we only want to help you.”  Lies.  Lies.  And the law says it is OK for them to do so.

In a case from the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1989, two detectives admitted that they had lied to a defendant about the evidence in their possession.  The court said it didn’t matter.  Davis v. State, 551 So.2d 165 (Miss. 1989).  It seems grossly unfair, but the police are allowed to lie to you, but you can get yourself into real trouble if you lie to them.

Here is the catch, though.  For any confession to be admissible in the government’s case against you, the “confession” must have been given voluntarily and not given as a result of promises, threats, or inducements.  That is solid law in Mississippi, in both state and federal court.  Nelson v. State, 10 So.3d 898 (Miss. 2009).  What this means is that law enforcement officers can lie, but they can’t make promises, threaten you, or otherwise “induce” your statement or confession.  This distinction is as fine as frog hair, is very case-specific, and is the subject of much litigation year after year.  Getting a judge or jury to disregard a confession in a case is not easy, but it can be done.  Nobody likes a liar, not even when it’s the police, so a good lawyer will use that to your advantage.

Public vs. Private Property

A common rumor about DUI is that you can’t get a DUI for driving on private property, as in: “The police can’t stop me from cutting doughnuts in my pasture while I’m wasted because it’s my land.”  Here is where the confusion comes in, and where the rumor probably started:

Section 63-11-30 of the Mississippi Code Annotated (the DUI statute) states that it is unlawful to operate a vehicle under the influence anywhere “within this state.”  This likely means you can be prosecuted for DUI for driving anywhere within the geographic boundaries of the state of Mississippi, including your cow pasture, your driveway, private parking lots, golf cart paths, etc.  

BUT, section 63-11-5 (the implied consent statute) states that if you refuse to submit to a chemical test of your breath, blood or urine – which would result in an administrative suspension of your driver’s license unless you successfully contest the suspension in time - the state must show that you were operating a motor vehicle “upon the public highways, public roads and streets of this state.”  So technically you probably could get a DUI on private land, but you couldn’t have your license suspended for a chemical test refusal on private land.

This distinction is sitting right there in the law, but it has yet to be taken to the appellate court level in Mississippi for clarification.  As you may imagine, this issue does not come up as frequently as others, but if you think it applies to you we are prepared to help you with it.