"We Just Want to Ask a Few Questions": Why You Shouldn't Talk to Police Without a Lawyer
A detective leaves a card in your door. Or he calls: you aren't in trouble, he just wants to get your side of it, could you come down to the station this afternoon? Or two officers are on the porch asking whether they can come inside and chat for a minute.
It sounds casual, and it is meant to.
Why the invitation is friendly
Miranda warnings are required only when a person is questioned in custody. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that a man who came to the station on his own, was told he was not under arrest, and walked out afterward was not in custody, so no warnings were required and what he said could be used against him. A voluntary chat is the easiest interview for an officer to get into evidence, and that is one reason you get invited instead of arrested.
By the time a detective calls, he has often talked to the other side already. He knows what he needs from you, and it may be the one piece of the case he can't prove without your help: that you were there, or that you knew.
What officers are allowed to do
Officers can lie to you about the evidence. The Supreme Court let a confession stand after police falsely told a suspect that his companion had already confessed. They can tell you that talking will help you, though the charging decision belongs to the district attorney and not to the officer across the table. They can record the whole thing, and where they don't, the officer's report of what you said becomes the record.
Innocent people get hurt this way too
"I have nothing to hide" is the reason most people talk. But an honest mistake about a time or a place reads as a lie once it is on a recording and the phone records say otherwise. If the agent is federal, a false statement can be its own crime: knowingly and willfully making a materially false statement in a federal matter carries up to five years, whether or not anything else is ever charged. And a statement given today locks you into details before you or your lawyer have seen a single page of what the State has.
Staying quiet is not enough
The Supreme Court has held that the right to remain silent has to be invoked clearly, and that sitting mostly quiet through hours of questioning did not do it. A remark along the lines of maybe I should talk to a lawyer has been held too vague to stop the questioning. In another case the Court allowed prosecutors to use a man's silence against him because, in a voluntary interview, he went quiet at a hard question without saying he was relying on his rights.
So say the words: "I am not going to answer questions, and I want a lawyer." Then stop talking. Be polite, and repeat it as many times as you are asked. Once a person in custody clearly asks for a lawyer, questioning is supposed to stop unless he starts the conversation back up, so don't start it back up.
Call a lawyer first
Whether it is a card in the door, a phone call, or officers on the porch asking to come inside and chat, the answer is the same. Be polite, take the card, tell them your lawyer will call, and then call a lawyer before you say anything else. Don't lie to them, and don't hide or destroy anything. Either one can turn a problem you could have handled into a new charge.
A lawyer can call the detective and usually find out in one conversation whether you are a witness or a target. If you really are only a witness, your lawyer can arrange for you to give what you know without exposing yourself. If you are the target, the lawyer decides whether any statement helps and on what terms, and if charges are coming can often arrange for you to turn yourself in with bond ready instead of being picked up at work. Hiring a lawyer before charges are filed is not an admission of anything. It is the point where a lawyer can do the most good.
If a detective has called you, left a card, or asked you to come in, call (918) 221-6190 or request a consultation before you call him back. The first consultation is free, and you will talk with me directly.
This article is general information about Oklahoma criminal law, not legal advice for your situation.
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