I’m going to give everyone a little unsolicited information. It’s a free gift from me to you, partly paying you all back for all the great advice I receive on Bloodhound Blog.
Call it educational. Let’s just say I’m in a patriotic mood. Labor Day and all that. And when I get into a patriotic mood, I start thinking about all those rights that Americans have that they routinely throw away as if the Founders never existed.
If you are ever in a position where police officers are talking to you about your conduct, whether it be speeding, drunk driving, or something more serious, always be polite, but never speak to the police without an attorney present. You would be shocked at how, by showing restraint, you can dramatically improve your chances for a better outcome in your case.
You could be stopped on the side of a road and a police officer asks you if you know how fast you were driving. Instead of saying “I know I was speeding,” how about you just say, “Thank you, Officer, I appreciate your job.” And when the police officer asks, “How fast were you driving?” Maybe a good response might be: “I really appreciate the job you do, but I’d prefer not to answer any questions.”
Most police officers will respect you, and most police officers would do the same in your position. The ones who don’t respect you for asserting your rights weren’t going to let you off with a warning anyway.
I don’t handle traffic tickets, but I do handle everything from a DWI up to violent crimes. And – I know this is going to shock you – some defendants are innocent. Still more are innocent of the crime for which they’ve been charged. And still more would be found not guilty, but for statements they made to police.
It’s not your job as an individual to give to the government all the evidence it needs to convict you of a crime. And given that in the United States we’re all guilty of something, it makes sense to be a little guarded about what rights we do have not to incriminate ourselves.
Rob Thiessen says:
The spontaneous, voluntary, statements expressed when asked(or not asked) made for much appreciated and mostly successful prosecution in court, this is true. However, they were vital, dare I say more vital at the scene to help (at least in a temporary way) solve issue/problem at hand. Whether the statements helped provide probable cause for me to arrest a wife beater, gangbanger, or just an all out jackass, they just made my life much easier to diffuse the situation by making an arrest. Take the jackass out of the picture(legally of course) means we wont be going back and can handle other calls. Most of those folks, fortunately, wont be reading blogs like this. To them I say, keep up the chatting. (So yeah, Damon is right. Keep your mouth shut. That is a challenge of course if you’re DUI/DWI cause you too drunk, or drunk enough, to remember his advice.) Don’t Drink and Drive!
September 5, 2010 — 3:55 pm