# A question about answering incriminating questions from police. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2008, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-answering-incriminating-questions-from-police/460048 "2008-08-15T00:53:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-answering-incriminating-questions-from-police/460048/41 "2008-08-20T19:23:36Z")
[QUOTE=KRSOradio] If I am clearly at work and have a solid alibi, refusing to answer won’t look good, so why not answer in that case. [/QUOTE] I was coming in to ask a similar (although more general) question. Obviously, if you are guilty, or have some level of involvement in a crime, refusing to speak without a lawyer is the smart thing to do. But what if you’re completely innocent? If I were brought in for questioning in regards to a crime to which I had no connection, and I said as much, offering complete and truthful answers to all questions asked – how does that hurt me? I’m sure that sounds naive, but it’s an honest question. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-answering-incriminating-questions-from-police/460048/42 "2008-08-20T19:39:57Z")
[QUOTE=j666] I’ve told several young relatives that if they are _ever_ questioned about the police about a crime to keep their damned mouths shut until a parent is on the scene. And insist the parent call a lawyer. [/QUOTE] Maybe you should tell them not to do shit that gets them questioned by the police? To answer **Meltdown’s** question. Generally the best thing you should do (assuming you are innocent and committed no crime) is just tell the truth as you see it. Some girl in my old building got stabbed so the police when around questioning everyone. What am I going to tell them? I came home around 7:30ish, didn’t see anything, didn’t know the girl and only found out about the incident when my GF called me because she recognized my building on the news. Now if they start getting all interogative then I might be like “I think I would feel more comfortible with a lawyer.” Another time my friend and I got stopped by the police in New Orleans because we fit the description of someone going around punching people in the face (totally out of character). What am I going to do? Refuse to answer their questions without a lawyer so they will arrest me for ‘suspicion of facepunching’, make me sit in the station for hours until I get a lawyer to tell them I didn’t do it? I show them my id like they ask and answer what few questions they had. They didn’t really press the issue so I suspect they were either looking for someone specific or they thought we looked under 18 or something. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-answering-incriminating-questions-from-police/460048/43 "2008-08-20T22:12:59Z")
[QUOTE=Meltdown] I was coming in to ask a similar (although more general) question. Obviously, if you are guilty, or have some level of involvement in a crime, refusing to speak without a lawyer is the smart thing to do. But what if you’re completely innocent? If I were brought in for questioning in regards to a crime to which I had no connection, and I said as much, offering complete and truthful answers to all questions asked – how does that hurt me? I’m sure that sounds naive, but it’s an honest question. [/QUOTE] Did you watch **zeno** ’s links in Post 4, above? I did, and found them extremely sobering. The law might not get you for the crime in question, but they might nail you for something else. The whole idea of the videos is to be very very careful when the cops interview you, no matter how innocent you are, no matter how smart you think you are. First, get yourself a lawyer. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-answering-incriminating-questions-from-police/460048/44 "2008-08-21T01:36:34Z")
[QUOTE=msmith537] Maybe you should tell them not to do shit that gets them questioned by the police? [/QUOTE] Maybe they should live in a perfectly fair and reasonable world, where simply being a teen-age male isn’t considered evidence of criminal activity? Maybe I should leave their moral and ethical up-bringing to their parents, and supply information and practical advice difficult for the parent providing a moral and ethical up-bringing? (How _should_ such a parent response to a comment about the condom machine restaurant rest-room?) Maybe I should forget about stories, like that of two boys who, after hours alone with the police, confessed to killing a girls for her bike? And that the police, even after rape of the victim was proven, argued the pre-pubescent boys were guilty? Maybe I should just assume that my young relatives will be lucky their entire lives and never experience an injustice? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-answering-incriminating-questions-from-police/460048/45 "2008-08-21T16:17:33Z")
[QUOTE=Meltdown] I was coming in to ask a similar (although more general) question. Obviously, if you are guilty, or have some level of involvement in a crime, refusing to speak without a lawyer is the smart thing to do. But what if you’re completely innocent? If I were brought in for questioning in regards to a crime to which I had no connection, and I said as much, offering complete and truthful answers to all questions asked – how does that hurt me? I’m sure that sounds naive, but it’s an honest question. [/QUOTE] Because you know your involvement in the situation, but the police do not. Your actions, mannerisms, pitch of your voice, etc. might lead them to put you as suspect #1 in the case. In a perfect system, you would eventually be cleared, but the law is a complicated situation. When you are dealing with a serious infraction of the law, it is naive to think that the police will do everything to see your side of the story, or to know that you are a good person. When/if you become a prime suspect, they may used some advanced interrogation techniques and you will have given “incriminating” information while still believing that you are just being a good citizen. Having a lawyer on your side keeps the cops a respectful distance from you and ensures that there won’t be any games played.. ---
**Author:** ![zeno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zeno/32/15040_2.png) [@zeno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zeno)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-answering-incriminating-questions-from-police/460048/46 "2008-08-24T21:25:11Z")
I’m unclear as to what kind of deception the police can use. Can they tell you that you’re not a suspect when you actually are? Can they tell you that you have immunity when you do not? ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-answering-incriminating-questions-from-police/460048/47 "2008-08-24T22:05:23Z")
[QUOTE=zeno] I’m unclear as to what kind of deception the police can use. Can they tell you that you’re not a suspect when you actually are? Can they tell you that you have immunity when you do not? [/QUOTE] They can flat out lie to you. “Your buddy in the next room already told us that it was all your idea,” “We have you on video robbing that store,” “Hell yes, if you clear this up for us right now, you’re home by dinner time.” Lawyer up, early and often. EJsGirl, who sleeps with a former prosecutor… ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-answering-incriminating-questions-from-police/460048/48 "2008-08-25T02:39:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Those videos were great. Obviously, if I’m a suspect, I should get a lawyer regardless of guilt. But what about when I’m not? Hypothetically, suppose the police are canvassing the neighborhood looking for witnesses. If I saw or heard nothing, should I say that, or even in this situation should I get a lawyer? That would seem awfully suspicious to me. What if, say, I witness a robbery? Should I get a lawyer before telling the police what I saw, even if I was just an innocent bystander? At what point does it cross the line between be cooperative and get a lawyer, exactly? No one who knows what they’re talking about has an answer for **Garula**? ☹ IANAL, but I watched both of **zeno** ’s links, and I think (and maybe they specifically said) they were talking about being questioned by the police _after_ receiving Miranda warnings. If the police are canvassing the neighborhood, and you’re just answering their questions, and haven’t been given the Miranda warnings, they can’t use your statements against you in court. I _think_ if you start offering up information on your own, that can be used. I think most of the answers given here are assuming the Miranda warnings have been given, but no one’s explicitly said so. It was at least implied, and they probably said, the students were law students, and the instructor was telling them to not have their clients talk to police even after they (the lawyers) are there. Can someone confirm or deny this, so I don’t have to watch it again? ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-answering-incriminating-questions-from-police/460048/49 "2008-08-25T14:00:00Z")
[QUOTE=zeno] I’m unclear as to what kind of deception the police can use. Can they tell you that you’re not a suspect when you actually are? Can they tell you that you have immunity when you do not? [/QUOTE] I hope someone will answer **zeno** ’s two questions. I know cops can lie to you, but is there anything they cannot lie to you about? If they tell you you’re nor a suspect, don’t Mirandize you and then suck damning info from you, is that legal? Can they say you have immunity, then after you spill your guts, charge you for the crime under investigation - or other crime(s)? ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-answering-incriminating-questions-from-police/460048/50 "2008-08-25T14:44:40Z")
[QUOTE=BarnOwl] Did you watch **zeno** ’s links in Post 4, above? I did, and found them extremely sobering. The law might not get you for the crime in question, but they might nail you for something else. The whole idea of the videos is to be very very careful when the cops interview you, no matter how innocent you are, no matter how smart you think you are. First, get yourself a lawyer. [/QUOTE] One example given in the video is that you give your alibi, and then the cops produce a witness who contradicts it. Now you’re a liar. Just because you know you’re innocent doesn’t mean you won’t be prosecuted. ---
**Author:** ![cinehead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@cinehead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cinehead)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-answering-incriminating-questions-from-police/460048/51 "2008-08-25T18:13:31Z")
My completely unscientific observation when seeing and hearing stories of people that served time in jail for crimes they did not commit, is that they really got themselves into trouble once they started talking to the police. If they had lawyered-up early, they would have saved themselves a lot of trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-answering-incriminating-questions-from-police/460048/52 "2008-08-25T18:25:45Z")
[QUOTE=zeno] I’m unclear as to what kind of deception the police can use. Can they tell you that you’re not a suspect when you actually are? Can they tell you that you have immunity when you do not? [/QUOTE] No, to both questions. If they say that you are not a suspect when you actually are, what you say after that is inadmissible in court. If they tell you that you have immunity when you do not, what you say after that is inadmissible in court. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-answering-incriminating-questions-from-police/460048/53 "2008-08-25T19:33:10Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] No, to both questions. If they say that you are not a suspect when you actually are, what you say after that is inadmissible in court. If they tell you that you have immunity when you do not, what you say after that is inadmissible in court. [/QUOTE] I’d also add that it is the _prosecutor_ who has authority to grant immunity to a witness, not the police. So immunity isn’t even an issue until a suspect has been named and formally charged. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-answering-incriminating-questions-from-police/460048.md?page=2)