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Why won't my briefcase open?

Is it legal to handcuff yourself to a briefcase and refuse to open it for police officers?

  • If I understand correctly, you need to consent to a stop and search - if they aren't actually arresting you. And you can always say that you lost the key or couldn't remember the combination .. the only way they could get the briefcase open would be to arrest you, drag you down to the station and weld it open with an arclamp. Does having a suitcase handcuffed to your wrist constitute suspicious circumstances sufficient to legally arrest a person and destroy their property? And if the briefcase turned out to be empty - could you sue them?

  • Answer:

    THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE, IT IS AN ACADEMIC RESPONSE TO AN ACADEMIC QUESTION. IF YOU NEED LEGAL ADVICE, HIRE A LAWYER, DON'T ACCEPT THE WORD OF SOMEONE ON YAHOO! ANSWERS. That said, in a stop and frisk, they need only reasonable suspicion to stop you, not probably cause. They can then search you if they fear you may be carrying a weapon. They cannot search places you don't have access to as part of a weapons search, so a briefcase that can't be opened without a key would be off limits. To search the briefcase, they would need probable cause, which is more than reasonable suspicion. Absent some exception like an emergency (they think there may be a bomb in there or something, which could be a reasonable assumption, depending on the circumstances), even if they had probably cause, they would secure the briefcase, cut it off your hand, then get a warrant to open it. Otherwise, it would be a fight in the Courts (they might win, but it would be a fight). Whether just having a briefcase on your wrist provides sufficient probably cause would take some research to determine. I imagine it might vary State to State.

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And just what would you hope to prove by locking an empty briefcase to yourself?

Dr. Snark

According to the law no authority has the right of searching you or your belongings without an search warrant or your consent, no need to cuff yourself to your briefcase, otherwise they would need to arrest you, now if they think you're holding drugs in it then they have the right to bring a trained dog to detect the narcotics; Now if you're crossing a border they have the right to request for your briefcase to be open and if you refuse they have the right of not letting you go into the so mentioned country. You can cuff yourself to your briefcase if you want and that's not any authorities' busyness but only yours

Paul Preston

sure it's legal. It is also a good way to get yourself tasered and arrested.

It would make it look suspicious, but you must give the police permission to search your things. There are many loop holes in this, such as if a cop comes to your door and you let them into your house, that gives them the right to search what they want. Even if they pull you over and ask to search your things, it is your right to say no. Unless they have a legal document stating that they are allowed to search you without your permission, then you are in control. If they went that far and the case was empty, you couldn't sue them. You were creating suspicion by handcuffing the suitcase to you.

Josh

Weird stuff.... They're the police they can pretty much do what they want, and of course is suspictios... Why the heck would you handcuff yourself to a briefcase?

Nanami

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