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Do Innocent People Need Lawyers?
Posted by: Norm Pattis
July 30, 2006

You bet they do.

A police officer arriving at your front door or calling asking you to come to the station for an interview may regard you as a mere witness to the misconduct of another. But often he or she regards you as a suspect. After all, police officers don't pick folks at random for little chats at the water cooler.

Often police officers are investigating whether their is probable cause, or some reason to believe, a crime has been committed. Before they knocked on your door, they may well have had a complaint lodged against you by someone you don't even know. The law does not require them to confront you with what they are investigating. The right to confront witnesses against you attaches only at the time of trial, when your liberty is on the line.

So what to do if a police officer calls and reports he'd like to question you about some event?

Thank the officer for offering you a chance to speak to him. Then politely decline to speak until you can appear with a lawyer.

Criminal cases are often built on circumstantial evidence. The words you offer as an innocent explanation for why you were present at the scene of whatever event may well be turned on you at trial. Example? You see a horrible beating, and you run in fear. If you admit you were present when the beating occurred, you can be charged and a jury told that your decision to flee was consciousness of guilt.

There are ways you can tell law enforcement officers your side of the story without fear that your words will be twisted to convict you. Prosecutors, especially federal prosecutors, will enter into what are known as proffer agreements. Such an agreement permits you to answer questions, but binds the government not to use your words against you. You'll need a lawyer to craft and enforce the agreement.

Police officers may well be our friends, but if you should surface on their radar as a suspect in a crime, they are far from friendly. Indeed, they can cost you your liberty and your family may lose your ability to support them.

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Be Clear About Wanting A Lawyer
Posted by: Norm Pattis
July 30, 2006

Repeat after me: Confession may be good for the soul, but it can destroy the defense of a criminal case. 

I am a criminal defense lawyer, but when a police officer stops me on the street, I find myself eager to speak. I can't imagine how it must feel to be a suspect in a major crime.

Under both the state and federal constitution you have an absolute right to remain silent. And you have the right to have a lawyer present for any questioning. But that right is easy to waive, or give up. So be careful.

Police officers are obliged to end their interview or interrogation of you if you clearly and unequivocally assert your right to have a lawyer present. In other words, you have be to crystal clear that your lips aren't moving if a lawyer is not present to see it happen.

People get in trouble sometimes by being polite. The courts have held that a person who says something like "I think I should have a lawyer" has not evoked the right to counsel.

Police officers receive training in interrogation techniques and in strategies to lower a person's inhibitions about talking to them. You must clearly state that you want a lawyer. Here is language I recommend:

"I understand that you want to interview me. However, I am unwilling to answer any questions withou the presence of a lawyer. I am asking you to stop asking questions until my lawyer is present."

Best of all: Do it on tape so that the officers can't later deny that you asked for counsel.

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