You're Being Watched! Know What to Say

Verified Credentials

Reggie & Njeri London
Co-Founding Partners

Texas Bar verified. Reggie London (Texas Bar No. 24043514) and Njeri London (Texas Bar No. 24043266) are the co-founding partners of L and L Law Group, PLLC — based at 5899 Preston Rd, Suite 101 in Frisco, Texas (Collin County), with many 5-star Google reviews, and available 24/7 for criminal defense consultations.

The Stop Is on Camera

Most officers in Collin County, Denton County and Dallas wear body cameras, and most patrol cars carry dash cameras. The camera is usually running from the moment the lights come on, and it records the small talk, the nervous joke, and the explanation you offer before anyone asks for one.

That matters because an ordinary traffic stop is not "custody." The U.S. Supreme Court held in Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420 (1984), that roadside questioning during a routine stop does not require Miranda warnings. So everything you say at the window is admissible even though nobody warned you. "I only had two beers" is on video before you ever reach a police station.

Texas law requires a driver to show a driver's license and proof of insurance on request. Hand them over. Beyond that, you can answer "Where are you headed?" with a polite "I'd rather not discuss my day, officer."

Your Phone Needs a Warrant

Police cannot search your phone just because they arrested you. In Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373 (2014), the Supreme Court held that officers generally need a warrant to search the contents of a cell phone seized during an arrest.

The most common way people lose that protection is by unlocking the phone "to clear things up." An officer says, "If you have nothing to hide, just show me the texts." Once you unlock it and hand it over, you have consented, and consent is a search the Constitution allows. Under Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218 (1973), consent must be voluntary, but a polite request followed by your "sure" is treated as voluntary.

What to say instead: "I do not consent to a search of my phone." If the officer takes the phone anyway, let it go. Do not fight over it, and do not type your passcode. A lawyer can challenge a warrantless search later, but not one you agreed to.

Where You Have Been Is Already Recorded

Your phone reports its position to nearby cell towers all day. In Carpenter v. United States, 585 U.S. 296 (2018), the Supreme Court held that the government generally needs a warrant to obtain historical cell-site location records from your carrier. That does not erase the records; prosecutors with a warrant can map your movements for weeks.

The same logic covers your car. In United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400 (2012), the Court held that attaching a GPS tracker to a vehicle and monitoring it is a search. Separately, Texas Penal Code § 16.06 makes it a crime for a private person to install a tracking device on someone else's car without permission. If you find a device on your vehicle, photograph it where it sits and do not remove it until your lawyer tells you to.

Two more sources get less attention. License-plate readers on patrol cars and at intersections log where your plate was seen and when. Doorbell and home-security cameras on private houses record the street, and neighbors hand that footage to police routinely. A story that puts you across town when a plate reader puts you on the block is worse than no story.

Jail Calls Are Recorded, Every One

If you are booked into the Collin County, Denton County or Dallas County jail, the phone system plays a recording that says calls are monitored. People forget it within a minute, then call a spouse and explain what "really" happened, or ask a friend to move something out of the apartment, or argue with a witness about what she saw.

Prosecutors listen to those calls. They are a common source of damaging evidence because the defendant is relaxed, angry, or trying to reassure someone. The rule is short: on a jail phone, talk about bail, family logistics and getting a lawyer. Never talk about the facts, and never ask anyone to do anything with evidence or witnesses. Calls with your attorney are the exception, and your attorney will tell you how those are handled.

Social Media Is Evidence, and Deleting It Is a New Problem

A public post is not private. Investigators screenshot profiles, and prosecutors subpoena the rest. A photo at a bar the night of a DWI arrest, a comment about a fight, a "message me" post to a person you were ordered not to contact, all of it comes in.

The instinct is to delete. Do not. Once you know an investigation or case exists, destroying or altering something that could be evidence can be charged in Texas as tampering with evidence, a separate crime that is often more serious than the original charge. Deleted posts are often recoverable from the platform anyway.

What to do instead: stop posting entirely, set every account to private, and do not accept new friend or follow requests while the case is open. Do not message the other side, the witnesses or the alleged victim, even to apologize. Tell your lawyer what exists so it can be addressed on your terms rather than discovered on theirs.

Police Are Allowed to Bluff

An investigator may tell you your fingerprints are on the door, your friend already confessed, or the camera caught everything, when none of that is true. The Supreme Court held in Frazier v. Cupp, 394 U.S. 731 (1969), that deception about evidence does not by itself make a confession involuntary. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure art. 38.21 requires that any statement be freely and voluntarily made, but a lie about what police already have usually does not cross that line.

The bluff only works if you respond to it. If you never explain, correct or argue, the false claim has nothing to pull out of you. Two Supreme Court rules protect people who speak up correctly. Under Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477 (1981), once you clearly ask for a lawyer during custodial questioning, the questioning must stop. Under Davis v. United States, 512 U.S. 452 (1994), the request has to be unambiguous. "Maybe I should talk to a lawyer" is not enough; "I want a lawyer" is.

Silence alone is not enough either. In Salinas v. Texas, 570 U.S. 178 (2013), the Court held that simply going quiet during non-custodial questioning did not invoke the privilege. Say the words out loud. In Texas, art. 38.22 governs when a statement from custodial questioning can be used, and art. 38.23 lets a court exclude evidence obtained in violation of the law. Both work best when the recording shows you saying the right sentences and nothing else.

The Only Sentences Worth Saying

Memorize these. Say them calmly, once each, and then be quiet.

1. "Am I free to leave?" If the answer is yes, leave. If the answer is no, you are detained, and the rest of this list applies.
2. Your name, address and date of birth, if you are arrested. Texas Penal Code § 38.02 makes it an offense to refuse that information after a lawful arrest, and it is an offense to give a false name during a lawful detention. Never lie about who you are.
3. "I do not consent to any search." Of your car, your pockets, your phone or your home. Say it even if the search happens anyway. Do not physically resist; Texas Penal Code § 38.03 makes resisting a separate charge.
4. "I want a lawyer, and I am not answering questions." One sentence, no hedging. Repeat it word for word if questioning continues.

That is the entire script. No version of "let me just explain" helps you on a recording, and none helps off the recording either, because the officer writes a report.

What to Hand Your Lawyer

Because so much of a modern case is already recorded, your lawyer's first job is collecting it before it disappears. Bring, or write down, the following at the first meeting.

• The date, time, location and agency of every police contact, and the names or badge numbers you remember.
• Whether anyone said the words "body cam," "dash cam" or "recorded," and whether you were interviewed at a station.
• Your phone carrier and number, and whether the phone was taken, searched or unlocked.
• Any tracking device you found, with photos, left in place.
• Every social media account you use, including old ones, and anything you posted about the event.
• Any jail calls you made, roughly when, and to whom.
• Names of anyone with a doorbell or security camera near the location, if you know them.

Retention windows for private camera footage and some agency recordings can be short, so speed matters more than tidiness.

About the Authors

Njeri London

Co-Founding Partner

Texas Bar No. 24043266. Admitted: TXND, TXED, 5th Circuit. Thurgood Marshall School of Law. Focus: Fourth Amendment motion practice, drug-crime defense, federal cases. Verify on Texas Bar

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Reggie London

Co-Founding Partner

Texas Bar No. 24043514. Former Dallas County Assistant District Attorney. Extensive felony trial experience including DWI dockets. Verify on Texas Bar

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