SIX THINGS YOU SHOULD NEVER DO
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If you are accused of a crime, there are six things that you should never do:
1. Never resist arrest. Don't run, stay calm, control your words and actions. Don't argue or complain. Never touch a police officer. Always keep your hands where the police can see them at all times. Never reach for anything, no matter how innocently, that the police cannot see. Be polite and respectful to the police.
2. Never interfere with, or obstruct, the police. The police have a right to use "reasonable force" to prevent that interference or obstruction. It is also a whole separate crime for which you can be arrested and prosecuted.
3. Never make any statements to the police regarding the incident. Make no statements written or recorded, formal or informal, on or off the record. Everything that you, say or do, can, and will, be used against you!
Remember the old army rule. If taken prisoner, give only your name, rank and serial number. That is still a pretty good rule if you are arrested, or find yourself to be a suspect, or the subject, of a criminal investigation.
Offer no explanations or excuses. Don't say thing without your lawyer present! You do not have to answer any questions -- other than to give your name and address and, if required, show some identification!
Note: If you are stopped for driving under the influence, you are legally required to show your driver's license, car registration, and proof of insurance.
Don't assume that simply because you may not have been "read your rights", nothing you say can be used against you. That rule, still prevalently featured in old tv reruns, has been so riddled with exceptions over the years that today it looks like a piece of Swiss cheese! Don't rely on it!
Understand, your "right to remain silent" can be waived, not only by signing a written waiver but, by anything that you say, or do, that is inconsistent with that right -- like continuing to talk to the police! Don't risk it!
Give your name, address and ask to speak to a lawyer immediately. If you do, or say, anything more than that, you are putting yourself at risk. Don't do it!!!
4. Never talk to anyone, other than your lawyer, about the incident. One of the other things that has never ceased to amaze me, in my more than 25 years of practicing law, is that even people, who know enough of their rights not to talk to the police, will tell everybody else on the planet about the incident in detail -- even total strangers that they meet in jail and who, all to often, turn out to be police informants!
What you tell your lawyer is confidential under the attorney-client privilege. Neither you nor your attorney can ever be compelled to reveal those discussions. But that is not true of what you say to the rest of the world. Further, you can waive, or give-up, even the protection of the attorney-client privilege, if you tell others what you have said to your lawyer or your lawyer has said to you.
While your communications with your spouse may be privileged to a limited degree, there is no privilege of confidential communication with other family members, friends, co-workers, or others including boyfriends and girlfriends! The police have a habit of questioning those people, and often pressuring them, about what you have said or done. Don't needlessly expose them to that pressure, and yourself to unnecessary risk, by discussing your case with them.
Understand too, that being charged with a serious crime can often have a serious, and destructive, impact upon relationships. You may find that someone that you loved and trusted, and who you believed loved and trusted you, before the incident, may feel quite differently about you, and your situation, after you have been charged with a crime!
5. Do not consent to any searches of yourself, your home or car. There are situations in which the police can search all three and the circumstances in which they are permitted to do so are, these days, constantly expanding.
It is very important to understand that the police can always conduct a search if you consent to their doing so or they have a search warrant.
In addition, there are a number of circumstances in which a search can be conducted without either your consent or a search warrant.
For example, if you are arrested, a police officer can search you without your consent, and without a warrant, for weapons or evidence of illegal or stolen goods. If you are booked and placed in jail, you can be required to submit to a full body search, including body cavities.
Your car and trunk can be searched without your consent, and without a warrant, if the police have good reason to believe that they contain illegal or stolen goods. If the police stop you, even for a minor traffic violation, they can seize any illegal goods that are in plain view.
Your home can also be searched without your consent, and without a warrant, in some situations where, for example, the police may be trying to prevent the destruction of evidence (or say they are) or where you are arrested in your home. Further, while searching your home, an officer can seize any evidence of any crime, such as illegal or stolen goods, than are in plain sight.
Your photograph and fingerprints can also be routinely taken without your consent and without a warrant.
In many instances, you can also be required to provide samples of hair, skin, blood and other bodily fluids, and handwriting, although you should not provide those things voluntarily, or consent to their being taken, without talking to a lawyer first.
If you have a California driver's license you are deemed to have consented to the police taking blood, breath or urine samples to determine your blood/alcohol level in cases where you are suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
In such cases, you get to select the type of sample you want to provide. Blood samples, as a general rule, tend to be more accurate; breath samples the least accurate. If you don't choose, the police will choose for you and will normally select a blood test. If you refuse to provide any kind of sample, there's an "automatic" suspension of your driver's license.
The rules that govern searches, and seizures, are complicated and constantly changing -- usually for the worse these days.
Never try to resist, or interfere with, a search no matter how unlawful you believe it to be. The police have the right to use "reasonable force" to overcome any resistance, or interference, in the course of conducting a lawful search and, of course, can be expected to claim any search they make is "legal".
What you can do, and absolutely must do, is always -- politely but firmly -- make it clear that you DO NOT CONSENT to the search, warrant or no warrant! You may want to say those words to the police repeatedly -- not that words will stop the search -- but if you fail to do so, your silence may be taken as a sign that you do consent, or acquiesce, to the search.
Understand that if you do consent, or acquiesce, to the search, anything, and everything, the police find can, and will, be used against you!
6. Do not make any decisions about your case until you have talked to your lawyer! Being arrested, searched and jailed, can be very traumatic even in the best of circumstances. Most people are badly shaken-up, and rattled, by the experience. It is frightening, embarrassing, humiliating. If it happens to you, you may not be thinking clearly.
The police understand that and, typically, try to capitalize on that fact and take advantage of your vulnerability. Remember, they may be lying to you. You may not have a true picture of what has happened, what's going on, or what they're up to.
You should try to stay calm, follow these basic suggestions, and not make any decisions regarding your case until you have had a chance to settle down and talk to your lawyer. Our legal history is replete with stories of people, who under pressure, panicked and confessed to crimes that they never committed! Don't make that mistake.