Why you should never talk to the police

[andrewducker]

A brilliant lecture by a defense attorney explaining why it is never in your interests to talk to the police:

The bit at the end where a police detective talks about why he's right, and what they do to get a confession is also fascinating.

I didn't watch it when it first made the rounds a couple of years back, but thanks to annwfyn Julie and I watched it this morning, and I'm very glad we did. It's worth the time.

Comments

[miss_s_b]

The problem with this, in the UK at least, is that silence can be taken as a bad thing, thanks to dear old Jack Straw.

[marrog.livejournal.com]

Although things may work a little differently in the UK of course. The usual statement in the UK is:

"You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence."

Which implies pretty heavily that evidence in court in the UK collected in a police interview can be used to help the defense...

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

This, for the reasons marrog has mentioned, is not as it stands good advice in England. (I am not entirely sure of the situation in Scotland but I believe it is similar.)

The best advice here is not to talk to the police without a lawyer present, and if your lawyer indicates that you should not answer a question, you should say that you have no comment. A lawyer qualified for police work will also be familiar with PACE Code C and the rules for how long you can be questioned before charge.

If you refuse to comment or fail to explain physical evidence associating you with a crime when being questioned, and then later seek to provide and explanation at trial that you could reasonably have given at the time if it was true, the jury is entitled in English law to take this into account when assessing your credibility. There are in fact plenty of circumstances when it is quite reasonable not to comment, but a lawyer is best placed to advise when this is.

If you find yourself in police custody, do not answer questions until you have a lawyer. The police may well say that it will take time to find one; if so, say that you will wait. They cannot question you without a lawyer until you waive your right to one, but time limits for custody start running straight away. I've had clients be pushed into talking to the police without a lawyer, and I've ended up spending a good deal of time in court showing why what appear to be damaging admissions in the subsequent interview should in fact be disregarded. Much better had they waited for a lawyer.