Refusal to Identify During a Lawful Detention

Refusal to Identify During a Lawful Detention

RC Phillips
DDA Ret.
November, 2014

Question: Is it a crime in California for a person to refuse to identify himself to a peace officer during a lawful detention? My opinion is that depending upon the circumstances, refusing to identify oneself during a lawful detention may be a violation of P.C. § 148(a)(1) for “delaying or obstructing” an officer in the performance of his (or her) duties. Some other “legal experts” disagree, arguing that P.C. § 148(a)(1) does not apply to such a situation.

As I see it, there are two legal hurdles to validating my conclusion on this issue: (1) Is there a legal duty for one to identify himself when lawfully detained? (2) If yes, then is there a California state statute that a detainee is violating when he refuses to identify himself?

As for issue #1, the United States Supreme Court has told us that a state statute requiring a lawfully detained person to identify himself when so requested by a law ....