Should I Talk to the Police?

Protecting Your Freedom
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I get asked this question a lot. Should I talk to the police? The best answer is, "Talk to a lawyer first."

Over and over again I have people come to me to hire me, AFTER they talked to the police, and have subsequently been arrested. Often times, had they consulted with me first, they may never have been charged at all. I am very suspicious of letting a client talk to law enforcement. "Why?" you may ask. Well let me tell you.

More likely than not, you will NEVER, EVER talk your way out of getting arrested if they have a legitimate case against you. Second, if they don't have a case against you yet, they very well may have one after you talk to them. Third, you may very well tell them about a crime or crimes which they had no clue about.

As an example, I had several child sexual abuse cases where the police interviewed a guy who's family later retained me. Before they spoke to an attorney, they went to the interview and denied any involvement. Eventually, though, they wore down and gave a confession. As a result they got even more charges than they would have, which lead to higher bonds. So high, their families could not post it. I see this over and over in child sexual abuse cases.

If they had seen me, or almost any competent criminal defense attorney, they probably would have never talked to the police in the first place. They would still have been charged. They still would have gone to jail when they were arrested, but their bonds would have been significantly lower and they would have been able to get out of jail pending trial instead of sitting in there.

This may seem obvious, but apparently it isn't based on the number of people I have to defend for confessions they give.

What have we learned today? People who talk to the police end up in jail. People who do not talk to the police sometimes walk free, and sometimes they give the state all they need to bury them. Get an attorney before you ever agree to an interview with police.

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