Art. 187. The interrogation will consist of two parts: on the person of the accused and on the facts. (Wording provided by Law No. 10,792, of 1.12.2003).
§ 1 In the first part, the respondent will be asked about residence, means of livelihood or profession, social opportunities, place where he exercises his activity, previous life, notably whether he has ever been arrested or prosecuted and, if so, what is the judgment of the process, whether there was a conditional suspension or conviction, the penalty imposed, whether it was served and other family and social data.
§ 2 In the second part you will be asked about:
I – whether the accusation made against you is true;
II – if the accusation is not true, if there is any particular reason to which to attribute it, if you know the person or persons to whom the commission of the crime should be imputed, and which ones they are, and if you were with them before the commission of the infraction or after her;
III – where you were at the time the infraction was committed and if you heard about it;
IV – the evidence already collected;
V – whether he knows the victims and witnesses already questioned or to be questioned, and since when, and whether he has what to allege against them;
VI – if the instrument with which the infraction was committed is known, or any object related to it and which has been apprehended;
VII – all other facts and details that lead to the elucidation of the antecedents and circumstances of the infraction;
VIII – if you have something else to allege in your defense. (Included by Law No. 10,792, of 1.12.2003).
Right not to incriminate oneself and interrogation stages
Right not to incriminate himself: The accused has the right not to incriminate himself, being able, consequently, to present the version of the facts that seems more favorable to him or even to deny the authorship, even if he is the author of the crime.
Interrogation steps: The first step is the qualification of the accused, his name, profession, etc. In the second stage, they are asked about their person, livelihood or profession, previous life, etc. In the third stage, he is asked about the fact that he is accused of.
Libelous denunciation and false self-accusation
Refusing to provide data in the qualification: For some, it is an exercise of the right of defense for the respondent to refuse in the qualification to provide their data such as name, profession, address or even to provide untrue data (provided that it does not incriminate others) . For others, there is a criminal misdemeanor ( Decree-Law No. 3688/1941 ) typified in Article 68: “Refusal to the authority, when justifiedly requested or required by the latter, data or indications concerning one’s identity, status, profession, domicile and residence” . The majority understanding is that there is a crime of disobedience ( article 330 of the CP ). According to Precedent 522 of the STJ, the conduct of giving oneself a false identity before the police authority is typical, even in a situation of alleged self-defense.
Slanderous denunciation: If the respondent imputes the commission of the crime to another person who he knows is innocent, he is subject to answer for the offense of slanderous denunciation: “giving cause for the initiation of a police investigation, judicial proceedings, initiation of an administrative investigation, civil inquiry or action of administrative impropriety against someone, charging him with a crime of which he knows he is innocent” ( article 339 of the CP ).
False self-accusation: If the respondent falsely confesses to a crime that he has not committed, he is liable for the crime of false self-accusation: “Accusing oneself, before the authorities, of a non-existent crime or one committed by another” (article 341 of the CP ) .
Precedents
STJ Precedent 522 : The conduct of giving oneself a false identity before police authorities is typical, even in a situation of alleged self-defense (Third Section, approved on 3/25/2015, DJe 4/6/2015).
