Under constitutional law, which option shows when the 5th Amendment does not apply to a suspect?

• A. Interrogation at the police station
• B. At the scene of the crime only
• C. When the suspect is charged
• D. Photographic ID, Showup, Lineup

Answer: (D)

The Fifth Amendment protects you from being forced to testify against yourself. That privilege covers testimonial communications—things you say that could incriminate you. Identification procedures like a photographic lineup, showups, or a live lineup are not testimonial; they’re memory-based recognitions. Asking someone to pick out a suspect from photos or from a lineup doesn’t compel them to reveal incriminating facts about the crime through a statement. Because of that, the Fifth Amendment privilege does not apply to those identification procedures.

Keep in mind that other rights may be involved in these situations. For example, the Sixth Amendment right to counsel can attach to lineups after arrest, and Miranda rights come into play for custodial interrogation. But the Fifth Amendment’s self-incrimination protection isn’t triggered by the act of identifying someone in a photo array or lineup.