… and the police ask me down to the station to help them with their inquiries, or to clear up some trivial matter.
So I go to the station like a good citizen, and I’m babbling away until at some point I realize they suspect me of a crime. I ask to leave, and they place me under arrest and advise me of my rights.
Now, since I’m innocent, I naturally want to clear my name, so I continue answering questions.
My question is: at what point should I aquire some sense, shut the heck up, and call for a lawyer?
Should I do so immediately upon being asked to the station house? Wait until the questioning gets pointed? Wait until I’m arrested?
Is there some way to detect early on that this is not about some trivial matter, but about me?
This situation is entirely hypothetical (just in case you’re worrying ;)). The question arose in my mind from the Stop Suppressing Evidence thread in GD.
First, let me say I have nothing against the police. They’re just doing their jobs. They don’t know me from Adam. I live in a bad neighborhood and I look like a Bad Guy. Hell, if I were a cop, I’d probably arrest me just because. (FTR, aside from speeding, I am the model of a Law Abiding Citizen)
My answer is: at the point the officer says “Hello”.
I’ve been in this position 3 times (you’d think I’d learn after 1 or 2), and even though it was proved each time that I had nothing to do with what they were investigating, each was a very frightening experience.
You are a suspect, either directly or as an accessory, otherwise they wouldn’t even talk to you.
They are allowed to use anything you say (even before you are arrested) against you. They can even lie to you about the evidence they have against you (tell you they have your fingerprints…), on the theory that you can’t make an innocent person confess to a crime. It is not pleasant.
If you voluntarily allow them to search your residence, vehicle, or person, they have a better than average chance of finding something that coincidentally implicates you.
From my experiences, I would not be surprised if a significant number of people were convicted of crimes they had no knowledge of.
The fourth and fifth amendments were written for a reason. Use them.
pmh is mostly right. But, as soon as they read you your rights, anything you say WILL be used against you. They only thing you say after that is “I want to speak to my attorney”, “Am I under arrest or can I go?”.
Once they read you your rights you can NOT talk your way out of it.
Understanding that a truly inncocent person is a rarity in the criminal defense arena…
I would suggest that it’s appropriate to help the police. On the other hand, I might reasonably wonder why the police need me to come to them – after all, I am doing them the favor. Still, I would not urge someone who is innocent of any wrongdoing to refuse to cooperate with police on the off-chance that they might erroneously be focusing their attentions on you.
However - the moment you have the slightest hint that they are considering you as a suspect, or the moment that they read your rights to you, STOP. Tell them calmly that you have done nothing wrong, and that you wish to speak with an attorney. Do not be ambiguous about this! “Maybe I should see a lawyer now,” is not good enough.
Incidently, my advice to someone who might actually be guilty is to simply start out saying nothing except that you want a lawyer. If you’re a master criminal, an international jewel thief - then you don’t need this advice. If you are anyone else, believe me when I say that you’re not smart enough to go head to head with the cops. Don’t start the verbal duel thinking you can escape unscathed. If you’re guilty, don’t say one word to the cops, and ask for a lawyer the moment they start questioning you.
And when you get a lawyer, for crying out loud, tell him everything. He can’t use anything you tell him in private against you, and if he knows everything, he can help. Lying to your lawyer is as foolish as lying to your doctor.
Standard police interrogation tactics have caused thousands of INNOCENT people to confess over the years. EVERYONE will knuckle under after a time, just a question of how long for any given individual…two hours? or two days?
The absolute rule of thumb is, never say anything…ANYTHING, not even
“Nice day we’re having, isn’t it?”
The police want you to start talking, even about mundane things, all part of the overall strategy to break down your resistance. Sleep-deprivation in a confined room with squads of ‘good cop-bad cop’ interrogators working in shifts can cause you to do things you wouldn’t normally do in the rational, monday morning quarterbacking, open light of freedom.
Just name, rank and serial number, ONCE. Then get a lawyer, who will do your talking for you.
If they have evidence against you, then they may be able to arrest you, but they could do that whether you talked or not. Do you think you could talk your way out of it if they had evidence? I wonder if you could outwit the police on their turf under their rules.
But if they had no evidence, then they couldn’t arrest you — UNLESS YOU SAID SOMETHING! Which is the whole point of getting you talking.
Arrests are predicated on probable cause. Convictions must be for evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. They may well have the evidence to arrest, but not to secure a conviction, unless you hand them that evidence by your own words.
While we’re at it: never consent to a search. If you think that your agreeing to a search will convicnce Officer Friendly that you’re OK, think again. If he has probable cause, he doesn’t need your consent. No good can come of consenting to a search. If you’re asked, “You mind if I take a look?” you should calmly and politely answer.
“I’ve done nothing wrong, and I want to cooperate with the police. But my privacy is very important to me, so I am not going to consent to a search.”
Some of you may know that my brother is in jail, on a 25 year sentence. My wife has mentioned it a few times. She has often stated that if he had simply not said anything to the police except “I want a lawyer” he would be free today, because they did not have enough evidence to convict him otherwise. Instead, he felt it was an unburdening of his conscience when they finally got to him, and he told them everything. Now, in this case he was not innocent, so the right result was achieved. But there are lots of cases reported in the newspaper about innocent people being convicted.
Oh great, just wonderful advice Bricker. Hey I have a question for you too. I am planning to commit some murders sell some drugs molest some children and steal some cars. How should I make sure I am never convicted?
Thank you.
DON’T YOU SEE THAT YOU ARE HELPING PEOPLE BREAK THE LAW AND AVOID THERE CONSEQUENCES???
As is probably obvious from my posts on this board I am a big supporter of the police. I have trained police officers in the past both in my dojo and in seminars. I even have several police officers as students in my dojo. Recently, I decided to become a police officer.
However, I guarentee you that if any one of these guys were to start questioning me, I would be asking for a lawyer. It is so very easy to say the wrong thing inadvertantly that makes it appear that you are in fact the criminal they are looking for. The interrogation is designed to have the criminal, who is presumably actively trying to avoid saying anything incriminating accidentally slip up. Imagine how easy it is to say the wrong thing when you aren’t trying to avoid it?
Support your local police. The vast majority of police officers are good cops who bust their butts to protect the community you live in. But when you are the focus of the investigation and are innocent, invoke your rights and get a lawyer (if you are guilty I recommend immediate confession after being read your rights and a plea of guilty at the trial in order to do us all a favor and get your crooked *** off the streets. ).
Im with Bricker cuz Ive been in those situations before. Before the cop even says anything, a simple, ‘I don’t consent to any search of myself or my property’ should suffice.
Maybe you bought a used car & let them search & they find in some nook or cranny a little pot? You can be arrested for that & what are you going to say? Ah, it’s not my pot…?
To see good examples of police questioning tactics just watch “Law & Order” or “Homicide : Life on the Street” (reruns on Court-TV). It would behoove you to shut up and not say anything at all to the police, and to refuse consent to have them search your vehicle or your home.
You’re not even required to provide that information. Say “I want a lawyer” and then SHUT UP. Don’t say anything, don’t sign anything.
Ave B-dude
Perhaps you would be happier in a country that did not enshrine as a tenet of its criminal justice system that each person is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Interesting advice. I’m curious as to Bricker’s opinions regarding the accuracy and verisimilitude of the current police and trial procedurals.
Bricker, you say, “And when you get a lawyer, for crying out loud, tell him everything.”
One thing I see often on “The Practice” is that the client shouldn’t tell the defense attorney anything that would prevent the attorney from putting the defendant on the stand, e.g. never tell your attorney, “I did it.” Is this indeed the case?
IANAL, but the advocate can never knowingly suborn perjury. My understanding is that it is also borderline unethical to wink at your client’s story on the stand if you believe he may be lying. Bricker’s point goes to the evidence the cops have. During discovery, the prosecution may unload massive amounts of paperwork and long witness lists that may be impossible to cover completely in discovery. If one of these witnesses or pieces of evidence turns out to be the damning piece of evidence that the defendant didn’t cover in his story to his lawyer, they can be ambushed in open court and look foolish and guilty in front of the jury and judge. If you tell your attorney EVERYTHING you know, he can prepare for such eventualities. The tradeoff (not appearing on the stand) may be minor in comparison.
stoli
Well, blessed is just about everyone with a vested interest in the status quo,
as far as I can tell.
SingleDad, I was getting ready to ask about that myself. If a client tells the attorney EVERYTHING, wouldn’t that put the attorney in the position of withholding evidence or something like that? If he was told where the bodies were buried or where the murder weapon was hidden, wouldn’t the attorney be required to tell the police or the court?
AvenueB-dude,
Guess what? There are people on this board who defend criminals in court as a way of making money. Everyone in the country has the right to sound legal advice (whether they can afford it is another thing). Also, people were mostly talking about what to do if you are accused of a crime that you didn’t commit. Just because someone is arrested does not at all mean that they are guilty.
Even if it happens to help criminals, how can you be opposed to letting people know what their rights are? I have been questioned by the police for absolutely no reason before. So have many other people. Even if you haven’t committed a crime, there is a point when it would be useful to have a lawyer. If you have committed a crime, you’re either an idiot or you’re asking for a lawyer before saying anything.
I agreed with everything Bricker has said (who wouldn’t), but I will admit that this comment surprised me. If I have nothing to hide, I would think a police officer would become suspicious if I didn’t allow a search.
JimB says
I don’t think the attorney is required to tell of criminal activities due to attorney-client privilege. However, the attorney will still try to represent your best interests, and I imagine would advise you to plead guilty and ask for leniency from the court.
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