Most everyone understands they have the right to remain silent. Unfortunately, many individuals accused of a crime choose not to exercise that right and provide the police with incriminating statements against themselves. The police often have a way of making you feel as though you have no choice but to cooperate in their investigation and to speak with them about the allegations against you. We hear frequently from clients that they were told by the cops they would go easier on them if they cooperated. We also hear other related statements by the police trying to induce individuals to give statements against themselves such as, “we can either do this the hard way or the easy way.” The truth is you do not have to speak with the police at all and you have a constitutional right not to do so. Not only that, cooperating with a police interrogation almost always hurts your case as opposed to helping it at all.
How to Respond to Law Enforcement
If you are being questioned in connection with a crime, do not give into police pressure to make incriminating statements against yourself. Before you do anything, you should speak with a lawyer and get sound legal advice. Therefore, if the police have arrested you, detained you, or are interrogating you. simply respond to their questions by invoking your right to remain silent and only let them know you wish to have a lawyer present before your begin speaking to them. Do not give into coercive tactics used by law enforcement. Do not buy into the lie that you will somehow be treated better by the cops and they will “go easy” on you.
Suppressing Statements
If you have already spoken with the police and believe your statement may be damaging to your case, you may still have options in your defense. In some cases, evidence obtained by the police after interrogating an individual may be suppressed. This means under certain circumstances, statement you may have given might not be admitted in court for the jury to hear. To find out more, call and speak with an Ogden Criminal Defense Lawyer at our office today. We look forward to your call.
