There are very sound reasons why legal professionals strongly advise people who have been arrested not to talk to law enforcement officials without a lawyer present. After reading the individual his or her Miranda rights, the police can ask whatever questions they want to. The person does not have to answer, but people tend to want to cooperate. Unfortunately, no matter whether someone is guilty or innocent, this person can easily say something during questioning that can cause problems for their defense later.
For example, this person may explain to law enforcement exactly what happened if they know he or she was at the scene of the crime but is maintaining a stance of innocence. If the case goes to court, the person may unintentionally say something that contradicts what was said at the police station. It’s easy to forget details or to remember things a bit differently as time passes, but law enforcement has a record of those comments. The person may even have made an official statement in an effort to verify innocence.
Months later, the prosecution may claim that this individual is lying to the court or was lying to police during questioning. That casts a skeptical light on the defendant by the judge and jury. Yet what many people don’t understand is that it’s legal for police to lie to suspects during questioning. That’s a tactic law enforcement officials sometimes find particularly useful. It can confuse suspects and lead to them making comments they never intended to say.
A criminal defense attorney guides the client through the questioning process or advises the client not to respond to questions at all. If the case eventually proceeds to court, this attorney works with the defendant to make sure he or she isn’t going to unintentionally change the story of what occurred in the middle of the trial. One big advantage of hiring a defense lawyer such as Joe Vinas is that this legal professional used to be a felony chief prosecutor. That means he knows how the prosecution thinks and the strategies these government lawyers use against people who have been charged with a crime.
