How Should You Behave when Being Arrested?
One of the most surprising parts of criminal cases is how people attempt to lie, but when they get called on it, they just confess. The other half of the time, they tell the truth and confess anyway. Both of those strategies are bad. It would be a crime to lie to the police and that would just compound the charges in a case where the state had leverage, and obviously confessing to the crime would be a big step in the wrong direction.
Are Police Officers Allowed To Lie To The Defendant?
Police officers are not only allowed to lie to people, they are trained to lie, and because that is part of the interrogation training they receive. Some police officers are better than others, whereas some of them are very good at it.
Is The Defendant Allowed To Lie To The Police?
As far as whether or not the person of interest or the defendant is allowed to lie, then the answer to that is no. It would actually be considered a separate crime in Maryland if someone lied to law enforcement. The person would have a right to remain silent and they would have a right to an attorney so the best thing for them to do would be to exercise those rights.
Should You Request a Lawyer Before Meeting with Police or Detectives?
The person has absolutely no obligation to meet with the police or the detectives and talk to them, although the police do tend to exert tremendous pressure on people to do just that.
This is when the person should call their attorney, because an attorney would certainly be able to have a conversation with them and there would be certain cases where the attorney would need to sit down with the law enforcement or the detective and with the client, especially if there was a case where someone did not do the crime and they were attempting to exonerate them before things ramped up into actual charges. Being nice would be the best case and it would not do any damage, although more often than not it would do damage so the person should certainly request a lawyer and get a lawyer at that point.
How And When Do Miranda Rights Come Into Play When Confronted by The Police?
The first step in the Miranda analysis would be custody, meaning we determine whether the person of interest was in custody or not. This often becomes a point of contention, because there are cases where they would talk about whether or not there was custody, whereas it would really be anything that the judge could be convinced of on any given day regarding what custody is.
Miranda rights are triggered once custody has been established, and the police would then be under obligation to read the person their Miranda Rights. If they read the Miranda Rights, then anything the defendant said, could and would be used against them in the court of law. If the person was interrogated without the Miranda being read, then any statements made by the defendant in custody would not be admissible in court as well as any other evidence that was directly linked or found as a result of those statements.
The legal term is “fruit of the poisonous tree,” because that evidence would also get suppressed unless the state could show there was an independent way they found that information or an independent way they would have found that evidence for them to get it in.
How Does One Know They Are Under Criminal Investigation or Have Been Charged For A Crime?
Sometimes people do not know they are being investigated, although they generally find out when they are approached by law enforcement. This would be the time to start exercising the right to remain silent and get an attorney even at the investigative stage, because things could go horribly wrong by talking to the police, even if it was just a simple failure of communication.
People should also realize that the police lie and they have been trained to lie, although some of them are very honest when it comes down to presenting the case and coming to court, although some do lie which is why the person would need to be very careful even at the early stages of an investigation. Ultimately, someone who got charged would either get served with the summons or they would get picked up by law enforcement and processed. At that point they would either have to make bail or they would have to sit in jail until the case went to trial.
For more information on Dealing with the Police During an Arrest, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking talk Arnold F. Phillips by calling today.