What to do when QUESTIONED BY THE POLICE or investigators...

Mahan Atma

Mahan Atma

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People here frequently ask about situations in which they have been questioned by the police or investigators, or are going to be questioned by the police or investigators regarding illegal activity that they or their friends may have engaged in.

Here is some very good advice about this, which applies to those in the United States (and possibly elsewhere):

DO NOT ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS FROM THE POLICE OR INVESTIGATORS WITHOUT A LAWYER!!! I cannot emphasize the importance of this enough!

  • Under the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, you have the right to remain silent, and the right to an attorney. If the police want to question you, invoke these rights immediately.

  • All you have to say is: "I want to remain silent, and I want to talk to an attorney."

  • They may continue to question you anyway. If so, make a mental note of it, but continue to refuse to answer their questions, and repeat the above demand for a lawyer.
This is important: You may be very tempted to answer questions posed by the police. They may put great pressure on you to talk. You may want to try to talk your way out of the situation. You may believe that if you don't talk, you will be in trouble. You may believe you are innocent, and you may even be right. But it doesn't matter. Do not attempt to convince the police that you are innocent!! You might accidently say something incriminating. Or you might say something that the police can twist into something incriminating. Believe me, they do it all the time!

You cannot get in trouble simply because you invoke your right to remain silent. It's a constitutional right, and you cannot be punished for invoking it when questioned by the police. (You may be required to testify in court at a later time, but that is a different matter.)

Trust me on this: I have seen many, many criminal prosecutions that would never would have happened if the defendants had simply kept their mouths shut!! People think they can talk their way out of it, or they think they will get in trouble if they don't talk, and they end up making things much worse. This is a BIG MISTAKE. So DON'T SAY ANYTHING BESIDES ASKING FOR AN ATTORNEY!!

Note that you should explicitly ask for an attorney. This gives you stronger protection than simply invoking your right to remain silent. If you ask for an attorney, this prevents them from re-initiating the interrogation at a later time, or asking you about other unrelated crimes.

Also, note that the police do not have to read you your Miranda rights ("You have the right to remain silent..." etc.) unless they want to question you after you've been taken into custody. If they fail to read you your rights, this does not necessarily mean that you can get out of a conviction, or even that your statement will get thrown out.

Being "taken into custody" means that you reasonably feel you are not free to go -- for example, if you have been arrested. If you aren't sure whether you are free to go, ask them: "Am I free to go?" They may not want to answer you. Keep asking them until they answer you. If you aren't free to go, you are in custody. If they start questioning you at that point, and they haven't read you your Miranda rights yet, make a mental note of it, BUT REMAIN SILENT ANYWAY. There is no guarantee that your statement will not be used against you, even if you haven't been Mirandized.
 
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Thanks for the excellent advice and the reference cards.

I think some people answer questions because the cops mislead them into believing that if they cooperate, they will face less severe charges or possibly even no charge at all. For example, an officer might say, "I'm gonna give you a chance to tell me the truth" or "You can make this alot easier on yourself by answering my questions" or "Be honest with me and I'll be straight with you." There's an implication there that if you talk, they might somehow go easier on you.

Let's face it, nobody wants to go to jail. So if you think a cop is making that kind of offer, would it be ok to try and get clarification without actually implicating yourself in any crime? For example, you could simply ask, "What exactly do you mean when you say I can make this easier on myself?" or "Are you offering me some kind of deal if I answer your questions?" Would a cop then be legally bound by any sort of agreement they made? Could you argue in court that you were cooerced into giving them information under the false pretense that you were not going to be charged if you cooperated?
 
^^^ Technically, yes, it is illegal for the police to make false promises when interrogating you. But they do it ALL THE TIME. Do NOT trust them. Do not even engage them on this. In most cases, there is no record of the interrogation, and the cops will deny that they ever made any promises. Or the judge will ignore it and find some bogus reason to allow your statement to be used against you.

Nobody likes to go to jail, but the chance that the police will let you go based on what you tell them is pretty much ZERO. If they let you go, it's because they did not have probable cause to keep you in the first place. By talking, all you are doing is giving them more probable cause to detain you. It's only on TV that the defendant talks and they let him go as a result.

Besides, all prosecuting decisions are made by the prosecutor. So the only deals that should happen are the ones made by your attorney and the prosecutor.
 
By the way, and this is IMPORTANT:

Note that while the police cannot legally make false promises, they can legally LIE TO YOU.

It is very common for them to say things like the following:

"Your buddy told us everything, so you might as well confess too, because we know what you did." They will say this even if your buddy didn't say shit.

"We have your fingerprints/DNA/hair/whatever on the drugs/gun/whatever". BULLSHIT. Don't buy it, they are lying. It takes time to do forensic tests.

"We have witnesses who can put you at the scene."

And so on and so on. ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT THEY ARE PROBABLY LYING, and even if they aren't, you aren't going to do yourself any good by talking.

Listen -- Good police interrogators are MASTERS are getting you to talk. There are many time-tested, proven techniques. This is why it is VITAL for you to ask for an attorney IMMEDIATELY and REPEATEDLY to discourage them from engaging you.
 
MORE ON COMMONLY USED INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES:

From:
http://www.davekopel.com/CJ/OpEds/Just-Say-Nothing.htm

What if you've just been arrested for something which shouldn't be a crime? For instance, if a burglar breaks into your home, attacks your children and you shoot him. Should you talk to the police in detail about what happened? In a word, "No." Shut up, call the best lawyer you can find, and then continue to shut up. If you talk to the police, you will only make things worse for yourself.

Sociologist Richard Leo has written several articles which detail the deliberately deceptive techniques which police use to extract a confession.

First of all, since 1986 the Unites States Supreme Court has required that all persons under arrest be given the Miranda warnings, so that they will know that they have a right to remain silent, and the right to a lawyer. So how do police convince a suspect to talk, even after the Miranda warning?

Professor Leo explains that "police routinely deliver Miranda warnings in a perfunctory tone of voice and ritualistic behavioral manner, effectively conveying that these warnings are little more than a bureaucratic triviality." Of course, the Miranda warnings are not trivial; your liberty may hinge on heeding those warnings.

No matter how strong the other evidence against you, a confession will make things much worse. A confession often makes the major difference in the district attorney's willingness to prosecute the case, and his willingness to accept a plea bargain. If your confession gets before a jury, your prospects of acquittal are virtually nil.

If you are foolish enough to reject the Miranda warnings, simply put, the police interrogators will attempt to deceive you into confessing. As a result of increased judicial supervision of the police, deception, rather than coercion ("the third degree") has become the norm for interrogation.

First of all, you will be kept in a physical environment designed to make you want to waive your rights and talk. You will most likely be kept in isolation, in a small, soundproof area. By isolating you, the interrogator attempts to instill feelings of anxiety, restlessness and self-doubt on your part. Left alone for long periods, you may think you are being ignored, and will therefore be happy to see the interrogator return.

Ideally, from the interrogator's viewpoint, you will begin to develop the "Stockholm syndrome," in which persons held captive under total control begin to identify and empathize with their captors. This can occur after as few as ten minutes of isolation in captivity.

While increasing your dependence, the interrogator works to build your trust by pretending that he cares about you, that he wants to hear your story, and that he understands how difficult it may be for you to talk. The interrogator works to become your only source of social reinforcement.

There is no law against outright lies or other deceptions on the part of police during an interrogation. Almost certainly, you will be told that the prosecutor and the judge will be more lenient if you confess. This is a complete lie. The district attorney will be more lenient if you don't confess and he can't make a strong case against you, and therefore has to settle for a plea bargain. Nothing the police promise in the interrogation room is binding on the police, much less on the district attorney.

There are five "techniques of neutralization" which the interrogator may use in order to make you feel that the crime really wasn't so bad, and that it is therefore all right for you to confess. Of course the interrogator's pretense that he doesn't think the crime was serious will last only as long as necessary to obtain the confession.

The first technique is called "denial of responsibility," allowing the subject to blame someone else for the offense. For example, "it was really the burglar's fault for breaking in; he's the one to blame for getting shot." (That's true, but it's you, after all, that the police are interrogating.)

Another technique is "denial of injury." For example, "The burglar wasn't really hurt; he walked out of the hospital two hours ago." Maybe true, maybe not. In truth, the burglar could be in intensive care and the interrogator could be laying the groundwork for a murder case against you.

In the "denial of the victim" technique, the interrogator will suggest that the victim deserved what he got.

"Condemnation of the condemners" is always popular. For instance, "the real problem is all those anti-gun nuts who let criminals run loose, but don't want guys like you to defend themselves." True enough, but when the policeman saying this is holding you prisoner, take his sincere expression with a large grain of salt.

Finally, there's the "appeal to higher loyalties" such as "What you did is a common sense thing. Regardless of some legal technicality, the most important thing is for you to protect your family. Your family comes first, right?" True again, but the man saying this wants you to confess to violating the legal technicality, so you can be prosecuted for it.

A close cousin to the denial strategies are the "normalizing" techniques, in which the interrogator claims to understand that the crime was not typical behavior for the subject; "I can see that you're not a violent person. You're not a criminal. You're a tax-paying, home-owning, regular kind of guy. What happened tonight was really unusual for you, wasn't it?"

You have nothing to gain, and everything to lose by talking. You are not going to outsmart the interrogator. Even if you don't end up producing a full confession, you may reveal details which will help build a case against you.
 
Nice work Mahan!

And do not forget kids, refuse to submit to a "lie detector" test on the basis that they are inherently flawed.

And as always, refuse to give consent to a search. If I had a nickel for every time someone consented to a search and the police end up finding an illegality, I would have a lot of nickels.
 
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That's by far the best legal advice I've ever recieved. I can't thank you enough for it, I know it will save my ass many times in the future.

But let's say something happens in school and the prinicpal/dean/security/etc interrogate you? Do the miranda rights still apply? Can you just say "I'm not talking, arrest me" and wait for the cops to come and read your miranda rights? Because at my school they get a confession or at least as far as they can, then call in the cops. Is this a technique to get around the reading of miranda rights? Or do they apply at school?

Thanks again man.
 
not a lawyer, but why would you have to talk to anyone of those afformentioned people? they're just like anyone else walking down the street, a citizen like you and me. i don't have to answer the question of the strange man standing on the corner of my street do I? you dont' have to answer to anybody unless your in court imo.
 
I have a question: what if they catch you with an Research chemical, I read the thread about RC legality and I agree with the advice to remain silent and let them find out what the substance is (if they can)....

but as they're not stupid and they know it's a drug (capsulated powder), and they will ask why you have it... would it be that bad if you say only one thing to make them calm down: "someone sold it to me at a party, telling me it was an energetic pill based on some medicinal plant"

...this way you don't really incriminate yourself, and they also think you're not trying to lie (as you confess that it's some energetic stuff like the one you get from herbalist's shops, which are legal), and they're not going to stress much about some unknown herbal therapeutic pills that they can't test for, are they?

What do you think about it Mahan Atma?
 
genaro said:
What do you think about it Mahan Atma?
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Unfortunately, Mahan no longer posts here.

would it be that bad if you say only one thing to make them calm down: "someone sold it to me at a party, telling me it was an energetic pill based on some medicinal plant"
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IMO, it would be more suspicious to say this than to remain silent.
 
You stay quiet about it. You don't have a prescription, and saying it is a vitamin is not going to work. Even if that is all it really is.

Can anyone give input on how good an idea it would be to chuck it if you could?

Note that while the police cannot legally make false promises, they can legally LIE TO YOU.
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Oh yea, they can act like they make promises. Don't expect promises unless your lawyer is present and you both get it down on paper. They may say stuff like "Cooperate and I'll work to get this down to a misdemeanor" or "I'll let you go once we get this settled".
 
Remaining Silent is SO important. About the research chems... Always remain silent about that kind of stuff. You don't want to say you bought a pill you thought was legal, you don't want to say anything about why you have it or where it came from. A cop isn't going to think some kid bought a legal pill, even if that is what you did. If it really is legal then you have nothing to worry about and might say that, but they'll still probably think it's illegal. You just stay quiet and ask for a lawyer and see what happens. If they can they can they will arrest you, and if they do you can work out your defense with your lawyer later so it can be dropped in court.
 
genaro said:
I have a question: what if they catch you with an Research chemical, I read the thread about RC legality and I agree with the advice to remain silent and let them find out what the substance is (if they can)....

but as they're not stupid and they know it's a drug (capsulated powder), and they will ask why you have it... would it be that bad if you say only one thing to make them calm down: "someone sold it to me at a party, telling me it was an energetic pill based on some medicinal plant"

...this way you don't really incriminate yourself, and they also think you're not trying to lie (as you confess that it's some energetic stuff like the one you get from herbalist's shops, which are legal), and they're not going to stress much about some unknown herbal therapeutic pills that they can't test for, are they?

What do you think about it Mahan Atma?
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1) I think you are incriminating yourself.

2) It's not going to do you any good. They're going to test it anyway.

What you hope is that if they charge you with cocaine or something, you can prove it isn't cocaine later on, through your own lab testing. That's no guarantee you'll be able to (they may destroy/lose the drug, or you may not be able to afford a test and expert witness), but it's probably your best shot.

And under most laws governing RC (depends where you are), they are required to prove you intended to consume the RC. Anything you say that suggests you were going to consume it (e.g. calling it a "therapeutic pill") is just going to incriminate you.

Best to keep your mouth shut, always. Let your lawyer do the talking.
 
*bump*

In the US - You have the right not to say a word without your attorney present. I suggest you invoke it, should you ever find yourself in a compromising position.
 
Here's something that should be brought to everyone's attention: Playing the game or keeping shut.

Such as when a cop pulls you over. He asks where you been, where you going, et cetera. Do you keep quiet, or do you tell him where you been and such? Do you lie? What circumstances would change your answer? Do you try to get away with "I was just coming back from work officer", do you tell the truth, or keep quiet and just realize that your day is ruined...
 
Just got paid a visit by some dectectives...

Heard through a grapevine that some private investigators wanted to speak to me. So I took the dude's phone # and invited to my house thinking they were PIs who I could kick out whenever.... Upon leaving he showed a badge and was a city popo detective.

I think I fucked up.. i invited em in, but don't they have to identify themselves or something?

P.S. I'm not in any trouble, may be a witness in court tho!
 
CreativeRandom said:
Here's something that should be brought to everyone's attention: Playing the game or keeping shut.

Such as when a cop pulls you over. He asks where you been, where you going, et cetera. Do you keep quiet, or do you tell him where you been and such? Do you lie? What circumstances would change your answer? Do you try to get away with "I was just coming back from work officer", do you tell the truth, or keep quiet and just realize that your day is ruined...
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I'd be very interested in this as well. Although it seems that just shutting up and not saying a word is the best possible thing to do.

I am curious though, I know probable cause is up for debate, but can they search your car or anything from you just not talking?

How about if they suspect something from your eyes even thought you may be acting fine, or if they smell something. Is there anything you can do so they DON'T have the right to search your car or you? Can they search just because you 'seem nervous'?
 
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