When speaking with the police, remember to call a criminal defense attorney. Whether you are pulled over on the suspicion of drinking and driving, questioned in relation to an assault, or an officer thinks you have drugs on you, how you interact with the officer will greatly influence the results of that interaction. You have the opportunity to either escalate or de-escalate it, to expose yourself or protect yourself. With that in mind, here are a few tips for you to remember:
#1 – Remain calm.
The best thing you can do is to keep your cool. If you get scared and try to run or drive away, they will catch you, and when they do, you will be arrested.
#2 – Speak politely.
While it may be difficult to do, especially if you have done nothing wrong, you do not want to appear agitated or aggressive because this could make the officer suspicious and lead to your arrest.
#3 – Exercise your Fifth Amendment rights.
As a criminal defense attorney, we remind patients of the importance of remaining silent. You have the right to not incriminate yourself, but too often, people forget that this begins immediately and not once you are arrested. You do not have to answer a lot of questions and you should never incriminate yourself by admitting fault. Keep your answers brief, using as few words as possible, and if they ask anything that could be used against you, say that you do not want to answer questions without your attorney.
#4 – Ask if you are being charged with anything.
If you are not, you can ask to excuse yourself. At that point, you want to call a lawyer immediately. We can call the department, find out if you are formally under investigation, and if so, why. This will allow us to work with you to begin building a potential defense before you are ever officially arrested. Additionally, if it appears that you will be arrested, we may be able to arrange for you to turn yourself in so there is no risk of you being embarrassed in front of your family or co-workers. The bottom line is that engaging a criminal defense attorney at this point will provide you with more options.
We Protect Your Rights and Become Your Advocate
The most important thing an attorney does is protect the rights of their clients. Once engaged, that is exactly what we do, but it begins from these first interactions with the police. Too often, people self-incriminate by speaking too much, by giving too much information. Other times, things, like running away or acting aggressively, can make the situation worse and make it appear to a jury that the behavior was prompted by guilt. This is to say that regardless of how you are feeling, your ability to remain calm and collected when dealing with the police will influence whether or not you are immediately arrested, how that arrest goes down, and how you appear to a jury later on. For more information or to get the help you need, call our office today.
