Like all things legal - that depends . . .
I was reading a recent case from Florida's Third District Court of Appeals where a juvenile driver was stopped for an expired tag. The officer decided not to give him a citation since the tag was only 10 days expired. As the officer was about to let him go, the officer asked,
"[I]s there anything on you or in this vehicle that I need to know about. Illegal, that I need to know about." D.A. responded, "[Y]eah, there's a baggy of marijuana which is in the center console." Nunez seized the bag of marijuana and arrested D.A."
D.A. argued on appeal that because the traffic stop was ending in no issuance of a citation, the officer had no right or probable cause to ask more questions. See D.A. v. State of Florida, 3rd DCA, April 29, 2009.
The 3rd DCA agreed with the cop. The Court said that because a traffic stop is a legal seizure, the officer was justified in asking a question. Interestingly, had D.A. refused to answer; the officer, without probable cause, couldn't have done anything further. Specifically the court said: "That law includes the ability to ask unrelated questions, subject, of course, to the right of the detainee to refuse to answer." (Emphasis added)
The answer to the question above: No, you shouldn't lie, BUT maybe you should refuse to answer. Just be quiet, and don't talk, the more you talk the bigger the hole you usually dig. Besides, the police will usually twist your words and lie themselves, so it usually does no good to talk.
