Juvenile Miranda Rights During Police Questioning

My question involves police conduct in the State of: California

Recently, a friend and I were stopped by a police officer late at night in a public park and asked to provide a lot of information, including ID, high school, home and cell phone number, address, and how long we had been there. While I understand that invoking my right to remain silent might have resulted in an arrest in this case, just out of curiosity, what information were we obligated to give? We were told that the officer was there because someone had been "jumped" at the park that night.

Also, this probably would've been a better question for the officer, but were we violating any laws? We were lying down in the back of my friend's truck, parked in the parking lot of the park (wow, that's a mouthful :D)

There's no requirement for Miranda unless you've already been arrested and they want to question you. Cops are free to ask questions to people not under arrest without any warnings at all. It appears that the officer didn't even stop you, just asked questions while you were standing around doing nothing. They don't even need to articulate a reason for wanting to do that. The fact that they were investigating a reported crime would be good enough anyway.

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Quoting flyingron

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There's no requirement for Miranda unless you've already been arrested and they want to question you. Cops are free to ask questions to people not under arrest without any warnings at all. It appears that the officer didn't even stop you, just asked questions while you were standing around doing nothing. They don't even need to articulate a reason for wanting to do that. The fact that they were investigating a reported crime would be good enough anyway.

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Actually that is not the case. Here's a link, and there are many, to Miranda Warnings.

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Quoting choicefresh

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While I understand that invoking my right to remain silent might have resulted in an arrest in this case,

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It is either yes or no an arrest is permissable for failure to answer. Might indicates it is permissable but discretionary.

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just out of curiosity, what information were we obligated to give? We were told that the officer was there because someone had been "jumped" at the park that night.

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Part of a patrol function is crime prevention. If there was a crime that night a police presence could minimize another.

Without knowing whether you were directly breaking any laws, say the park was closed, etc., it is not easy to analyze the detention.

The federal constitution only permits arrest of a person who fails to ID themselves only if they are "under investigation", see Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District, US SC. If you were not breaking any laws or there was not a "reasonable suspicion/probable cause" you were about to, you were NOT under investigation.

Let's assume it was a consensual encounter. There is nothing in the federal constitution which prohibits an officer from approaching a person and asking questions.

The problem with a person not familiar with law, is that believe they are obliged to answer.

Not knowing the exact details, I can not say whether you were obliged to or not.

If I am standing on a corner and an officer approaches me and asks to see my I.D., I will ask if I am under investigation, if he states no, I am not required by law to produce one, regardless of what kind of jive I may get with threats of arrest, etc.

Ohio, where I live, has a so called "stop and indentify" law, as mentioned in Hiibel. If I am indeed under investigation, I must produce an ID or give my name, per Hiibel.

Miranda can be a wise idea even before arrest if the officer believes the investigation is leaning towards an arrest. It is not required by law, just for statements made by the defendant to be admitted not court.

On scene questioning is generally not considered custodial in nature for purposes of Miranda, but that may be a fine legal line also.

Thanks for the quick responses. So basically, if it was a consensual encounter, I wasn't required to give any information? "Security Consultant" posted a link that mentions that the "right to silence" doesn't apply if the person is suspected of loitering -- could what I was doing be defined that way?

My main question was that, assuming I was "under investigation", what forms of identification was I legally obligated to provide? Two phone numbers seems a bit exuberant.

if you were not breaking a law, you did not have to provide any identification, either verbally or written. If you were being investigated for a crime, you were obligated to provide enough proof of your ID so the cop was satisfied. Failure to do so could result in a detention until such time your identification has been adequately proven.