Am I being Accused of a Crime?! Police want to talk to me! What to do?

CALL TODAY: 828-575-8417

  • If you are being accused, or simply being asked to come in and talk (often means you are being accused even though you don't know it) then it is a good time to contact an attorney.
  • What you say to police from here could jeopardize your legal position. For example, if evidence exists that mildly indicates you have been involved in a crime (but not enough for an arrest or solid charges), a skilled detective or police officer can make short work of getting a confession from many people. This is what they are trained to do.
  • Generally, if police are calling you in to talk, you will not be advised of your rights because you should be free to leave at any time. If you're being detained, confessions are no good without reading your rights. If they are playing by the book, the police will advise you of your right to leave at any time and they will pay close attention to how long it takes to get you to say what they want you to say. This interrogation period needs to not be unreasonably long, and your freedom to leave needs to be reasonably evident. Otherwise you'd essentially be under arrest and require a reading of rights.  This is the funny thing about your 4th, 5th and 6th amendment rights, Police trickery is generally completely fair game.
  • When police tell you they have enough to charge you, but want you to cooperate and admit to more, there may not be enough evidence for the charges to stick, and they may not really have enough to charge you at all.
  • Ultimately, you should contact a good criminal defense lawyer before arranging any of these talks or complying with any attempts to gain a confession.
  • ****Of course there is no guarantee you won't be arrested anyway, even on shaky evidence. Your decision to talk may actually improve your situation. But this decision to cooperate and talk to police is best made with prior consultation from a good criminal defense lawyer.
  • Often times police will show up where you are or call you and attempt to have you come in the next morning for interviews. This will make it less likely that you'll panic and call an attorney. Remember, your roll as a witness can change during the interview and become your role as a suspect.  
  • If there is a confession to be made, come see me first. I'm bound by rules of ethics and my license to keep your confessions confidential, and you can better decide where you stand with my consultation. I would advise against talking to police at all in this situation.
  • If you are not guilty but would like to cooperate with an investigation, I can attend these interviews (usually disguised as interviews but really interrogations) with you and be sure that if you do become implicated in any crime during the discussion, that we shut down the talks immediately and form a plan of action from there.

 

 

 

 CALL TODAY 828-575-8417