I am amazed with number of clients who have fallen into the web of deceit spun by law enforcement officers questioning them about suspected criminal activity and fall prey to the “charm” of the officer when he opines that cooperation will result in favorable treatment. While in some cases, mostly minor matters, that may be true, if you are being questioned about say a sexual abuse of a child, homicide, aggravated robbery, etc., you are not going to gain many points or favors by confessing. What you will likely do is provide the prosecuting authorities with evidence they may not yet have and since any statements you make are most often admissible in court, the rope they need to hang you. Advice: If you are being questioned about anything of consequence, politely indicate that you are willing and anxious to talk with the officer, but would like to talk to a lawyer first.
The concept of confession is good for the soul in the criminal law arena is equivalent to those other famous great lies: I’m from the government and I’m here to help; It’s only a cold sore; the checks is in the mail; and I will respect you in the morning.
I couldn’t agree more. The biggest lie out there is that if suspects are “cooperative” things will go “a lot better for them”. That is simply not true and lots of people are surprised when I tell them that police don’t have to be honest. Deception is an “investigative technique”. Interesting.
I just got involved in a case involving allegations of child abuse where the investigating officer sent two detectives to my client’s place of employment who just wanted “take him to the police station for questioning”. The client has some mental health impairment. Although not handcuffed, he was placed into the back of an unmarked police vehicle and transported to the Provo police station where he was locked in an interview room for 5 to 10 minutes before the investigating officer appeared to question him. After informing the client that he was not under arrest and was “free to leave”, the officer conducted a heated and accusatory interrogation session which resulted in my client ultimately making some incriminatory statements. He was then “arrested” and taken to jail.