Can officers lie to you during interrogation?

When a law enforcement officer is questioning you or speaking with you about a criminal situation, he or she is under no obligation to tell you the truth. In fact, it is very common for officers to tell lies to get the information they need to charge you with a crime.

The Innocence Project explains that law enforcement uses lies to get you to confess to a crime or to provide them with details that they can give to prosecutors to use against you in court.

Legal right

While you could get into trouble for lying to officers or other legal authorities, law enforcement is not bound by this same obligation. It is perfectly legal for them to lie, and they will not face any consequences for doing so.

Methods

Officers may tell you that someone else told them something in an attempt to get you to talk. They may also tell you they have evidence that they do not have or they have a witness who does not exist. Officers can make up all the details of a situation they want to in an attempt to get information from you.

Exceptions

There are some limitations, but there are not many. Officers cannot lie to you about your rights or associated details about your rights. For example, an officer cannot tell you that you must answer questions or you cannot request an attorney because these are your Constitutional rights.

Officers also have to be careful about letting lies turn into coercion. This is something that your defense attorney could use against them in court. It may even get a case thrown out.