Lawyer Arrested For Not Talking To Police, Wins Settlement But The Cops Are Still On The Beat

Even when the state pays for police misconduct, the cops are not held accountable.

You should never talk to the cops. Everybody knows that there is a “right to remain silent,” but it generally takes a lawyer to take that knowledge to its logical conclusion and counsel people to never talk to the cops.

That same advice goes for lawyers too, but we don’t always follow it. What with a full understanding of our rights, sometimes we feel more empowered than anyone to banter and argue with police. It’s not like some police officer is going to trick us. And besides, cops can be very intimidating.

Philadelphia lawyer Rebecca Musarra stuck to her basic training, even as the cops harassed and eventually arrested her. She was stopped in 2015. She gave over her license, registration, and insurance. But when the New Jersey state trooper started in with the banal, “Do you know why I stopped you?,” she said nothing. Not a peep. He asked her again and again, but like a soldier under enemy interrogation, she refused to break.

Eventually the cop asked her to get out of her car. Only then did she say, “I’m a lawyer, I don’t have to answer your questions.” And then nothing again as he handcuffed her and took her to jail.

She spent a little time in a holding cell before a supervising officer let her go.

This week, she settled with New Jersey for $30,000.

Quite frankly, I don’t think I could have done it. Alone in the dark, not able to flee from a potential domestic terrorist wearing a uniform, I’d have started talking. I might have shucked, I might have jived, I might have said anything at all that would have increased my chances of surviving my encounter with New Jersey state troopers. Harmless affable black men might live, righteous stoic ones could die.

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What black men should do in Rebecca Musarra’s situation remains an open question, because despite her personal victory, New Jersey has left the very troopers who harassed her and illegally detained her out on the streets.

Capt. Brian Polite, a State Police spokesman, said he could not comment on any correspondence between Musarra and internal investigators. He said, however, that the troopers involved “were given additional training regarding criminal arrests” after the incident.

When you arrest a lawyer for exercising her right to remain silent, the only additional training you should receive is how to properly bag groceries in your next job. But New Jersey, and America in general, is comfortable having police officers who blatantly violate civil liberties from time to time. Paying $30,000 to the occasional person like Musarra who does everything right is a cost the state is willing to bear to keep these bad cops on the street.

I’ve got to drive around a lot this weekend. This story is another reminder that every time I get behind the wheel, I’m putting my life at the mercy of cops who won’t be held accountable for violating my rights or ending my life. It’s a horrific reality.

N.J. state troopers arrested her for staying silent. Now the state will pay. [NJ.com]

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Elie Mystal is an editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.