Can You Use Somebody Else's Name for a Traffic Stop With That Person's Permission

[Junglejuggle]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: wisconsin. I was pulled over for failing to yied...a woman had her turn signal on so I pulled out and she didn't turn and honked her horn at me. My license was, at the time, revoked. I've since then got my license back. My sister gave me permission to use her name as I had just spent $1500 to get my license back...all was well...but during all of the panic as stress of getting pulled over, I forgot I had my name tag on. The police officer still sent me on my way but then showed up to my work the next day..I was honest and polite with the officer and he gave me a ticket for driving with a revoked license...and told me he would be submitting a request to the DA to charge me with identity theft...I thought he was trying to scare me as I've never heard of a police officer needing permission to charge you...so I went to court for the driving after revokation and when I got there, the DA handed me a paper saying I am being charged with identity theft! Now, my sister gave consent for me to use her name...she knew I did and was going to and actually told me to...the police officer also failed to mention in the report that I told him I did not fail to yield as the lady had her blinker on..but he said he didn't see the incident so I don't know if that's why he didn't mention it or what...he also made an error, a VERY MINOR error in the report and typed out that I drove with a suspended license when it was a revoked license...but basically, I am wondering a few things. First of all, did this police officer even have the right to stop me? Again, I had only pulled out because the lady that blasted her horn at me had her turn signal on and I thought she was turning! Shouldn't he have stopped the other woman? Also, is it really identity theft if I was given consent to use my sisters name?? And also, if I go to a jury trial, is there a possibility that the tiny error made in the report could cast enough doubt on the police officer to make a jury believe me about the blinker? I know it's their word against mine, but I feel I should not have been stopped and the woman who had her turn signal on then didn't turn should be the one who was stopped! So since the other woman should have been at fault, does that mean the police officer actually didn't have probable cause to stop me? What would my best defense be here? I know I should have just been honest but I was terrified! I had to drop off my sisters car to her so she could pick up my other little sisters from school and couldn't have the car I was driving towed away! But is it really identity theft if I was given permission to use my sisters name? And if the police officer had no right to stop me, does that mean any charges filed will be void? I really need some advice here! I have no idea what to do! I didn't steal anyone's identity and am baffled over the entire situation and being charged with identity theft! How can it be identity theft if I was given consent? Also, can my sister get in trouble for letting me say I am her? PLEASE help me!!!

[cdwjava]

You provided false information to a police officer. You are lucky you are not in jail! You do NOT have a right to use someone else's identity - even WITH their permission - when you are contacting the police or engaging in many other types of activity. You definitely need an attorney.

What statutes were you charged with?

[Mr. Knowitall]

so I went to court for the driving after revokation and when I got there, the DA handed me a paper saying I am being charged with identity theft!

You can try to argue that your sister gave you permission to use her name (and license?) to try to beat an identity theft charge, but is your sister going to back up your story? Also, even if you are charged with identity theft, proper, under Wisconsin Statutes Sec. 943.201, such that permission becomes a possible defense, odds are the prosecutor would simply charge a violation of 946.41 for obstruction of justice through the intentional provision of false information to the officer.

First of all, did this police officer even have the right to stop me?

You cut off another driver who had right of way, so... yes.

And also, if I go to a jury trial, is there a possibility that the tiny error made in the report could cast enough doubt on the police officer to make a jury believe me about the blinker?

It is not the officer who is contenting that the other driver's turn signal was not on. It is the other driver. Further, the details of why the traffic stop occurred are not relevant to whether or not you lied about your identity.

Also, even if the other driver had a turn signal on (and you suggest that she is taking the position that she did not) she still had right-of-way; she may have been signaling the intention to turn further down the road.

[Taxing Matters]

I cannot find a statute in Wisconsin that is actually called “identity theft.” Rather, it seems that the term identity theft is a commonly used shorthand for a violation of Wisconsin Statute section 943.201, which is the crime of the unauthorized use of an individual’s personal indentification information or documents and for a violation of § 943.203, which is a similar law for unauthorized use of an entity’s identifying information. Section 943.201(2) sets out the offense for the unauthorized use of an individual’s indentifying information:

(2) Whoever, for any of the following purposes, intentionally uses, attempts to use, or possesses with intent to use any personal identifying information or personal identification document of an individual, including a deceased individual, without the authorization or consent of the individual and by representing that he or she is the individual, that he or she is acting with the authorization or consent of the individual, or that the information or document belongs to him or her is guilty of a Class H felony:

(a) To obtain credit, money, goods, services, employment, or any other thing of value or benefit.
(b) To avoid civil or criminal process or penalty.
(c) To harm the reputation, property, person, or estate of the individual.

Certainly that crime would fit what you did if you had not had your sister’s consent to do it. But paragraph (3) of this statute does give you a defense when you had consent of the other person: “It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this section that the defendant was authorized by law to engage in the conduct that is the subject of the prosecution. A defendant who raises this affirmative defense has the burden of proving the defense by a preponderance of the evidence.” Note that while you can avoid conviction if your sister gave consent, it is up to you to prove to the jury that you had consent and not up to the state to prove that you didn’t have consent. Given that this is a felony offense, you really do need to get an attorney ASAP. While a class H felony is the least serious type of felony under Wisconsin law, you could still face up to 6 years in prison for this offense. Even if you only get probation for it, a felony conviction against you will cause you all kinds of other problems, like making it much harder to find jobs, etc. Note that even if you convince the jury that your sister gave consent, you and she might end up facing some other kind of charge for conspiring to deceive the police as to your identity. You should discuss that with your lawyer and she should discuss it with her own lawyer, too, before she agrees to testify that she gave you the consent.

As for the stop, all the cop needed was reasonable suspicion that you may have committed an offense. That’s a lower standard than probable cause, which itself is not a very high standard. Certainly the cop didn’t have to be right that you failed to yield. He only had to have reasonable suspicion that you might have done so. The investigation after the stop is to enable the cop to determine if there was probable cause. He wouldn’t know that she had her turn signal on until he talked to you, would he? So unless I’m missing something here, I think you’ll have a hard time getting this tossed based on the stop itself being bad. Again, something to discuss with your lawyer.

The police report is not evidence and would not be admissible for proving anything in court. While you could try to use it to attack the officer’s credibility, the chance of the jury making much of that over the distinction between suspended and revoked is, I think, pretty low. The cop was observant enough to notice the name you gave was different than the name on the name tag you were wearing and he did a good job following up to determine your real identity and that your license had been revoked. That is what is likely to impress the jury, and that’s not favorable to you.

Lying to a cop about your identity over a traffic matter to save a little money and aggravation is foolish, as I hope you can see from what’s happened to you. The consequences for the lie if you are caught can end up much worse than the traffic problem you were trying to avoid.

[DeputyDog]

I cannot find a statute in Wisconsin that is actually called “identity theft.” Rather, it seems that the term identity theft is a commonly used shorthand for a violation of Wisconsin Statute section 943.201, which is the crime of the unauthorized use of an individual’s personal indentification information or documents and for a violation of § 943.203, which is a similar law for unauthorized use of an entity’s identifying information. Section 943.201(2) sets out the offense for the unauthorized use of an individual’s indentifying information:

(2) Whoever, for any of the following purposes, intentionally uses, attempts to use, or possesses with intent to use any personal identifying information or personal identification document of an individual, including a deceased individual, without the authorization or consent of the individual and by representing that he or she is the individual, that he or she is acting with the authorization or consent of the individual, or that the information or document belongs to him or her is guilty of a Class H felony:

(a) To obtain credit, money, goods, services, employment, or any other thing of value or benefit.
(b) To avoid civil or criminal process or penalty.
(c) To harm the reputation, property, person, or estate of the individual.

Certainly that crime would fit what you did if you had not had your sister’s consent to do it. But paragraph (3) of this statute does give you a defense when you had consent of the other person: “It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this section that the defendant was authorized by law to engage in the conduct that is the subject of the prosecution. A defendant who raises this affirmative defense has the burden of proving the defense by a preponderance of the evidence.” Note that while you can avoid conviction if your sister gave consent, it is up to you to prove to the jury that you had consent and not up to the state to prove that you didn’t have consent. Given that this is a felony offense, you really do need to get an attorney ASAP. While a class H felony is the least serious type of felony under Wisconsin law, you could still face up to 6 years in prison for this offense. Even if you only get probation for it, a felony conviction against you will cause you all kinds of other problems, like making it much harder to find jobs, etc. Note that even if you convince the jury that your sister gave consent, you and she might end up facing some other kind of charge for conspiring to deceive the police as to your identity. You should discuss that with your lawyer and she should discuss it with her own lawyer, too, before she agrees to testify that she gave you the consent.

As for the stop, all the cop needed was reasonable suspicion that you may have committed an offense. That’s a lower standard than probable cause, which itself is not a very high standard. Certainly the cop didn’t have to be right that you failed to yield. He only had to have reasonable suspicion that you might have done so. The investigation after the stop is to enable the cop to determine if there was probable cause. He wouldn’t know that she had her turn signal on until he talked to you, would he? So unless I’m missing something here, I think you’ll have a hard time getting this tossed based on the stop itself being bad. Again, something to discuss with your lawyer.

The police report is not evidence and would not be admissible for proving anything in court. While you could try to use it to attack the officer’s credibility, the chance of the jury making much of that over the distinction between suspended and revoked is, I think, pretty low. The cop was observant enough to notice the name you gave was different than the name on the name tag you were wearing and he did a good job following up to determine your real identity and that your license had been revoked. That is what is likely to impress the jury, and that’s not favorable to you.

Lying to a cop about your identity over a traffic matter to save a little money and aggravation is foolish, as I hope you can see from what’s happened to you. The consequences for the lie if you are caught can end up much worse than the traffic problem you were trying to avoid.

It sounds like even though you might be able to beat the identity theft thing, you are still going to be convicted of lying to the police - and if your sister admits that she gave you permission to impersonate her, I'll bet you there are charges that can be brought against her as well.

Choose carefully.