Commonwealth v. Louis T. Durr, Jr., 2011 Pa. Super. 215 (Pa. Super. 2011)

The defendant was a passenger in a car that was stopped by police. Officers at the scene asked him for his name, because the office’s policy was to identify every person in the car during a traffic stop. The defendant told police that his name was “James Durr.” This was a known alias for Louis Durr, for whom the officers knew there were outstanding warrants. He was arrested and, during the trip to the police station, admitted his real identity. He was then charged with false identification to law enforcement. 

 

The trial court suppressed Durr’s statement to police, and the Commonwealth appealed. The Superior Court reversed the decision of the trial court, and held that police are always permitted to ask the passengers of a stopped vehicle for their names. The Court then went on to reject the trial court’s Fifth Amendment theory: defendant was not required to answer the officer’s question when they asked him for his identity, and his misidentification was therefore not constitutionally protected.