Any time you have any contact with the police or the police department or a sheriff’s department, you should be extremely wary, and you should take caution to make sure that you are not assisting the police in the investigation or proving the allegation against you. One of the greatest things that you will ever hear is to not talk to the police in certain instances. Any time that you are approached or contacted by the police department, they are investigating a crime or they are looking to determine what facts had happened, and whether charges should or should not be brought. There are some cases and some instances where the police will have to arrest someone or will have to charge someone, especially in a domestic violence situation. Any time that you are able to not express to the police your opinion or your side of the story can only help you down the road.
Generally, when the police are investigating a crime, they are looking to gather additional information. Some of the best and most damning information is your own statement against yourself as to what had happened, as to what the facts could be, or as to what you saw happen. You will always have an opportunity in a criminal case, in the criminal justice system, to defend yourself and to express what had happened and to promote a defense to a jury or to a judge. The time that you’re being investigated by the police is not that opportunity.
As they say on TV, and one of the only things that’s correct, is that what you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. What we encourage clients to do is to make sure that you’re not making statements to the police. Ultimately, you have to protect yourself and you have to watch out for yourself. The best way to do that is, when you’re contacted by the police or when you’re arrested, is to not make statements about what had happened, but instead to hire an attorney or contact an attorney and discuss the case with them, and have them represent you and start your defense immediately.
