Last month I had a trial on the west side of the state. Unfortunately, the jury returned a verdict of “guilty” against my client. The evidence against my client was, to put it bluntly, overwhelming. But in a situation where they offer my client a plea agreement for a 50 year sentence, there really isn’t much harm in going to trial (so my client decided).
As I said, there was a significant amount of evidence against my client. Sadly, the most damning of that evidence came from the mouth of my client. When she was interviewed, repeatedly, instead of asserting her 5th Amendment right to remain silent, she spoke to the police. During one of the interviews, she ended up confessing. Had she remained silent, it is very likely that she would’ve avoided being charged at all.
I have had clients from all walks of life think that they can explain themselves out of a situation with the police. Odds are, you can’t. Even if you didn’t actually do anything wrong, talking to the police is still potentially disastrous. In fact, odds are you will end up implicating yourself in something the police didn’t even know about.
Take it from your friendly, neighborhood defense attorney. If the police want to question you…tell them, politely, that you do not wish to talk to them. Then ask if you are free to leave. If you are not allowed to leave, call me.