# Anything you say can and WILL be used against you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 13, 2005, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-you-say-can-and-will-be-used-against-you/289850 "2005-02-13T07:24:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-you-say-can-and-will-be-used-against-you/289850/21 "2005-02-14T16:06:14Z")
Oh, and in case it wasn’t clear. Once they have said 'those magic wrds"- STFU!!! After that, you should only ask for your lawyer, and give basic ID info. Nothing else, don’t try and 'talk yourself out". Even if you are innocent- it is suprising how many dudes manage to prove their innocence in crime A by basicly admiting crime B…but if you do so- you’re still fucked. And, you can’t possibly know all that laws and what you may be guilty of. STFU and let your attorney do your talking. IANAL. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-you-say-can-and-will-be-used-against-you/289850/22 "2005-02-14T16:36:34Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Oh, and in case it wasn’t clear. Once they have said 'those magic wrds"- STFU!!! This point needs to be reiterated. If they arrest you, don’t think you’re going to butter them up and make them go easy on you by chatting away. Shut up, and let your lawyer do the talking. And if you’ve got a spare 10 bucks, i recommend [this book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1888766018/qid=1108399705/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i3_xgl14/103-0678623-4221425?v=glance&s=books&n=507846). I don’t anticipate ever having to worry about being arrested, but this little book is an excellent guide for how to handle any contact you have with law enforcement officers. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-you-say-can-and-will-be-used-against-you/289850/23 "2005-02-14T18:20:08Z")
There’s no very good reason to include “will”; as is obvious, it’s inaccurate. However, the Miranda warnings are meant to be prophylactic. They are not meant to be, and are not, a description of the rules of criminal procedure. They are a bright neon warning that a suspect doesn’t have to say anything if he doesn’t want to, no matter what the police do to coax, cajole, or threaten him. Therefore, the reason for the inclusion of “will” is to afford greater protection to the suspects by making sure they know the worst-case scenario. Once they call their lawyer, she can explain what the pros and cons to speech might be, but the moment of arrest is not the time to try and give a suspect an education. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-you-say-can-and-will-be-used-against-you/289850/24 "2005-02-15T23:39:11Z")
Say, here’s something novel for the discussion. [An interview](http://www.sacbee.com/static/archive/ourtown/history/miranda.html) given on the subject by former California DA Harold Berliner, the co-author (with then Deputy DA Doris Maier) of the familiar Miranda warning. The background: > [@](#): > > Shortly after the court’s decision, which required that suspects in custody be warned of their Fifth Amendment rights, California Attorney General Thomas Lynch ordered a meeting of all district attorneys in the state to discuss how law enforcement would accommodate the stipulations in the ruling. > > “We’re going to have to live with it. We have to have a warning,” Lynch announced, scanning the room full of prosecutors. “Now who’s going to write the warning?” > > Lynch picked Berliner, an old family friend, and Maier, a deputy attorney general in charge of the criminal division who was known for working seven days a week. Contacted at her Fair Oaks home, Maier said she was in failing health and would be unable to do an interview. > > “Doris and I met for a couple of hours in Sacramento,” recalled Berliner, seated in the small library of his 5,500-square-foot home nestled deep in the woods outside Nevada City. “We sat down and tried to find practical words to express the court’s notion, in language simple enough for an ordinary suspect to understand.” And later: > [@](#): > > Berliner also saw a business opportunity, and his quick thinking may be the real reason there is no other Miranda version out there. Realizing that all cops would have to recite the statement accurately, Berliner obtained a mailing list of every law enforcement agency in the nation. Then he printed up wallet-sized Miranda cards on thin plastic and sold hundreds of thousands of them. An old Concord Press catalog shows the cards sold for $205 per 1,000 cards. > > To this day, Berliner continues to print and sell the cards, even though the age of laser printers and desktop publishing has severely cut into his Miranda business. An most importantly to this thread: > [@](#): > > The warning has been praised for its simplicity and clarity, but Berliner, who served as district attorney of Nevada County from 1957 to 1973, admitted in a recent interview that one phrase was superfluous, possibly even inaccurate. “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” Why can and will? Berliner paused for a long while, looking slightly stunned at the notion his words needed polishing. > > “It is not an exact statement of the truth of the situation. I would take ‘and will’ out,” he said, shrugging. Berliner conceded that not everything will be used in court. In fact, most of it won’t. But something about the rhythm of the sentence worked, and it has been repeated so often that it always seemed untouchable. From the horse’s mouth. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-you-say-can-and-will-be-used-against-you/289850/25 "2005-02-16T01:08:14Z")
**scotandrsn** - that’s wonderful and a nice story. Thanks!! 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anything-you-say-can-and-will-be-used-against-you/289850.md?page=1)