10 Smart Reasons Why You Shouldnât Speak to the Police Without a Lawyer Present
Nov 29, 2020 ¡ Welcome to the DUI GUY Livestream! DUI defense attorney Larry Forman addresses the question, "Why you should never EVER talk to the police under any circums...
Sep 24, 2015 ¡ Why you should never talk to the police without a lawyer? In this video, Jesus Novo, a criminal defense attorney at Gallardo law Firm will answer a common qu...
May 08, 2013 ¡ In fact, itâs a very effective interviewing technique to ask a question and then say nothing. Thereâs a void that people feel the need to fill. And in the setting of a police interview, theyâll keep coming at you at intervals, even when youâve said you want a lawyer. Never ever ever ever ever waive your rights to a lawyer. Never ever ever.
Jul 06, 2020 ¡ If talking to the police is in your best interest, your lawyer is the only one you can trust to decide. If you cannot afford to hire an attorney, you may need to assert your own rights. Know this: you must assert your right to remain silent AND ACTUALLY REMAIN SILENT. Never let up, or you may waive your right. âInterviewâ with Police? Donât do it.
In general, you do not have to talk to law enforcement officers (or anyone else), even if you do not feel free to walk away from the officer, you are arrested, or you are in jail. You cannot be punished for refusing to answer a question. It is a good idea to talk to a lawyer before agreeing to answer questions.
14:0946:38Don't Talk to the Police - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipLet's assume he gives the police nothing but the truth and he is totally innocent he will alwaysMoreLet's assume he gives the police nothing but the truth and he is totally innocent he will always give the police some information that can be used to help convict him. Always.
You could make mistakes when explaining where you were at the time of a crime the officer talking to you could misremember what you say; you may be tricked into saying the wrong things; and your statements to police could, in combination with other faulty or misinterpreted evidence, lead to you being convicted of a ...Jul 6, 2018
The most obvious benefit to saying âno commentâ in a police interview is that you will not be adding an immediate strength to a prosecution case. In certain situations, this may leave a prosecution with insufficient evidence to charge you.Feb 23, 2022
The police already believe that you are guilty - that's why they want to talk to you. They believe you've committed a crime, and they want to get you to state that. People believe that if they tell their side of the story it will be over - The police are not going to believe you, and talking will not end things.Jun 20, 2020
You do not have to answer any police questions. But if you are suspected of committing a crime, this may give the police grounds to arrest you. The police cannot search you or your property unless they have a valid search warrant.May 14, 2021
How to Avoid Incriminating YourselfDon't Volunteer Information. The best way to avoid incriminating yourself is to stick to the questions that you are asked by the police. ... Stay Off of Social Media. Your next step is to make sure that there's as little to use against you as possible. ... Don't Lie. ... Don't Speak Without a Lawyer.Sep 7, 2020
The right to remain silent is based on the the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It guarantees that we will not be required to testify against ourselves. Specifically, the 5th Amendment reads: âNo person . . . shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.âJan 5, 2021
Because they already plan on arresting you. An cop either already has enough evidence to arrest you, or he needs to speak with you to get the information he needs to arrest you. Under both of these scenarios it is in your best interest not to meet with them.
In many cases a cop has enough evidence to arrest you and they are hoping you tell them anything to strengthen their case against you. NOTHING you say to a cop will convince them not to arrest you.
According to many legal scholars, and documented by Frontline in their 2010 film the Confessions, many of the techniques used by police to accuse and arrest innocent people remain legal.
Because you could be arrested for an entirely unrelated reason. Cops can legally lie to you, but it is illegal to lie to them. If you misremember some detail or answer a question incompletely, they could also arrest you for making a false statement to a law enforcement officer.
What is the rush to talk to the police? If you havenât been arrested for anything, there is simply no need to quickly prove your innocence. It is important to assess what the benefit of your statement and words will actually be. For instance, 86 percent of guilty defendants end up pleading their guilt before the trial and with that admission of guilt commonly comes a settlement or lesser sentence.
The Fifth Amendment, in short, provides that âno person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself (or herself).â. According to law professor and criminal defense attorney James Duane, whether you are innocent or guilty, speaking to police could land you in the slammer. According to Duane, here are ...
Interrogations are stressful situations, and with that level of stress can come an eruption of explanations on your potential ties to the case and your whereabouts. It is easy for words to be misconstrued and used against you. Next: Hereâs how you could be wrongfully accused of a crime you didnât commit. 4.
Martha Stewart and Marion Jones are perfect examples. A great example is Martha Stewart and Marion Jones. When Stewart was under investigation, she chose to lie to law enforcement and investigators, instead of staying tight-lipped. It wasnât empirical evidence that convicted Stewart, it the fact that she lied.
The police may not be able 100% recall your testimony. Duane explains that âEven if you are innocent and only tell the truth and do not tell the police anything incriminating, there is still a grave chance that your answers can be used to crucify you in the court of law if the police do not recall your testimony with 100 percent accuracy.â.
No matter what you believe, you will always provide the police with some sort of information that could be used against you. For example, in the case of being questioned about a murder, an innocent person could easily turn into a suspect.
Itâs too easy to get caught up and accidentally tell a little white lie. When a person is being questioned by the police, especially without the presence of their lawyer, it is increasingly easy to get caught up in the moment and tell a little white lie.
Other than that, Duane says, you should fall back on four short words: "I want a lawyer.".
Another thing is that I think police officers should be precluded from sharing information that they acquire in their investigations with witnesses. The Supreme Court has handed down this huge body of case law saying if police obtained evidence in violation of the Fourth, Fifth, or Sixth amendments, it's inadmissible in trial. It's a naĂŻve solution, because right now our law poses no restriction of any kind on the ability of the police to take information that they've acquired illegally and tell their witnesses about it. You've got a victim who says she saw the defendant's pictureâ"Oh, I think that's the guy, but I'm not sure." You tell her one month later that he confessed that he says he did it, but the judge says we can't use it because of a technicality. As soon as this woman hears that the guy confessed, trust me, she's gonna show up at trial, and she's going to say to the judge or the jury, "There's no doubt about it in my mind, I'm absolutely certain."
James Duane doesn't think you should ever talk to the police. Not just, "Don't talk to the police if you're accused of a crime," or, "Don't talk to the police in an interrogation setting"ânever talk to the cops, period. If you are found doing something suspicious by an officer (say, breaking into your own house because you locked yourself outside), ...
The Supreme Court has said it's much better for guilty people to go free from time to time if that's the price we're going to pay for innocent people not being convicted, because one innocent man unjustly convicted is much worse than one guilty man going free.
But the reality is that over time police officers inevitably come to see themselves as part of the prosecutor's team. They work with the prosecutors, they testify for the prosecutors, they meet with the prosecutors.
Though Duane said in his lecture he would never speak to the police, he has no problem speaking to anyone else, and in advance of his book coming out Tuesday, VICE talked to him about that lousy Supreme Court ruling, ways to reduce false confessions, and why he's cool with his book helping guilty people go free.
Donât talk to the police. REASON #9: Even if a suspect is guilty, and wants to confess, there may be mitigating factors which justify a lesser charge. You may be accused of committing one offense when, in fact, you are guilty of a lesser offense. By confessing to the higher offense, you are throwing away bargaining chips.
However, if you have told your story twice, once at trial, and once to the police, you are probably going to mess some facts up. Itâs human nature.
Nobody can âtalk their way out ofâ an arrest. No matter how âsavvyâ or intelligent you think you might be, you will not convince them that you are innocent. And any âgoodâ statements that may help you that you tell the police cannot be introduced into evidence because of hearsay rules.
The prosecutor can try the case with your confession to the higher offense. There is no reason to confess. Donât talk to the police. REASON #10: Even for a completely honest and innocent person, it is difficult to tell the same story twice in exactly the same way.