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Monday, August 31. 2009

Innocent or not, never, ever talk to the police. Part 1

Prof. James Duane. h/t, Coyote. Entertaining and essential advice for the innocent and the guilty.



 

Posted by The Barrister in Best Essays of the Year, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 12:02 | Comments (6) | Trackbacks (0)

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Great video. We have a sense that we don't want to look guilty in front of anyone, and so are only too willing to start offering information because of that social pressure. To refuse to answer seems like an admission of guilt, while an outright denial seems as if it puts us in a good light.

Be willing to look guilty temporarily in order to be proved not guilty in the long run.
#1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2008-07-29 22:38 (Reply)
Interesting video: I was curious how the particulars vary from state to state though (being in MA, I assume the worst). There's a part 2 at

http://www.tuccille.com/blog/2008/07/eight-reasons-even-innocent-shouldnt.html

that's pretty interesting as well.
#2 Peter on 2008-07-30 08:18 (Reply)
Instapundit has a posting for two books, where Glenn Reynolds adds this comment.
Some years ago I started on a project entitled Due Process When Everything Is A Crime. The gist was that since criminal law has expanded to the point where everyone is some sort of a felon, the real action is in the area of prosecutorial discretion — in choosing whom to prosecute from among this population-wide mass of the guilty — where, in fact, due process basically doesn’t apply.

Both this posting and the books Glenn Reynolds links to present food for thought.
#3 Gringo on 2009-08-31 13:40 (Reply)
Speaking from thirty years law enforcement experience this is excellent advice. The police always want to talk to witnesses/suspects/persons of interest. In recent years many officers have rec'd extensive training in recognizing deception and interview techniques. Many are very good at what they do. Admissions are attractive but run the risk of making the police lazy. They get incriminating statements and don't look at other evidence. This doesn't even cover those officers who (a minority but out there) who deliberately lie. As a citizen we can hope the police get lots of good confessions, but as a citizen being questioned don't speak and ask for representation.
#4 ctb on 2009-08-31 14:11 (Reply)
One thing that happens after you pass 80 years is that you reach heights of cynicism never before achieved in your life. I think this gentleman is absolutely right about this. If you don't answer their questions, they don't have anything substantive they can hang on you. Then they have to do real detective work.

And perhaps find the real criminal. So you're really doing them a favor by keeping quiet... all with the sweetest smile, of course.

Marianne
#5 Marianne Matthews on 2009-08-31 15:16 (Reply)
I used to be a public defender. My clients were very bad people. I would counsel them not to speak with cops without me present. This guy seems to be counseling that witnesses shouldn't speak with cops either.

Not sure I'd want to live some place where nobody talks with the cops ever - the city where I was a PD operated that way and it's one of America's per capita murder capitals - with a good few murders enforcing a "Don't Snitch" rule.

Where I live now, a national level gang is attempting to force its way into a local high school in my formerly bucolic suburb. There have been a bunch of armed robberies of shops (along with attendant murders) traced back to them, and a couple young high school kids murdered on the streets in front of their houses. I guess if we all clam up it'll help the cops fix the problem, right? Hey, who could it work...
#6 Jim on 2009-09-01 00:05 (Reply)

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