I'm writing a screenplay. Here's the situation, and the legal question(s) that arise from it.

I have a character who is suspected of art theft. He has not been charged. It turns out he is out of town. A police detective, who has come to question him questions a neighbor who lives in the same aprtment building instead. While he is with the neighbor, two men arrive at the door of the suspect and begin banging on the door angrily. The detective comes out and demands that each of the men produce ID.

Questions:
A.)Must the men produce ID, or can the refuse an don what basis?
B.)Can the be arrested legally, and charged with obstructing a police officer in performance of his duty? Would they likely be arrested anyway?
C.)If arrested, how would it resolve? Would they be held, charged?

Thanks

1. Depends on the state, for example in GA, no they don't have to, but they would have to tell them their names and date of birth but there are states that do require you to show an ID if asked

2. If the officer had a real "idea" they were invovled, he may arrest them for disturbing the peace, or something, seldom is the no ID ever actually used for an arrest, although it is humanly possible to in some states

3. If arrested, they would be taken down and fingerprinted ( in most departments now, their real identy if they had ever been fingerprinted before is known in a few minutes) If not they could either be held to a probable cause hearing the next day, ( but this again varies by state, since some states have an intital hearing at the jail at the time of arrest)

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Originally Posted by 19elmo55

I'm writing a screenplay. Here's the situation, and the legal question(s) that arise from it.

I have a character who is suspected of art theft. He has not been charged. It turns out he is out of town. A police detective, who has come to question him questions a neighbor who lives in the same aprtment building instead. While he is with the neighbor, two men arrive at the door of the suspect and begin banging on the door angrily. The detective comes out and demands that each of the men produce ID.

Questions:
A.)Must the men produce ID, or can the refuse an don what basis?
B.)Can the be arrested legally, and charged with obstructing a police officer in performance of his duty? Would they likely be arrested anyway?
C.)If arrested, how would it resolve? Would they be held, charged?

Thanks

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An individual who is doing nothing at all unusual, out-of-the-ordinary, wrong, illegal, or suspicious, and who is not a potential witness to a crime is not required to identify himself to law enforcement.

That is, unless an officer in conducting an investigation that involves, or potentially involves a person, they have no obligation to identify themselves. However, once an officer has "probable cause" to commence an investigation of a potential crime, anyone involved is required to cooperate - including identifying themselves upon request.

"Probable cause" exists where an officer has reason to believe a crime has been committed, or is about to be committed, and a reasonable suspicion that a particular individual was involved. There are explicit requirements for what constitutes a "reasonable suspicion": It must be based upon facts or evidence known or observed; such evidence must be reliable. It the officer's suspicion is based upon the statement of another person, there must be indication that the statement is reliable - that it is most likely true.

If all of those circumstances existed - and angry non-residents loudly banging on a door would almost certainly qualify, refusal to produce identification and answer basic questions to determine whether a person was a suspect (at which point Miranda considerations would come into play), could result in arrest for impeding or obstructing an officer or an investigation, or a person could be detained for a very brief time for investigation.

There was an incident in Florida some years back, where a man would anonymously provide information on himself sufficient to prompt detention on suspicion of various drug crimes. When the police arrived, he would resist them, and be arrested. Of course, since he had done no drugs, and the anonymous "informant" (himself) could never be located to establish that officers acted reasonably, he was always released, at which point he would bring false arrest lawsuits against the police.

He never did get caught with drugs... but he did end up serving time for fraud and providing false information to police.