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Don't Talk to Cops
By Robert W. Zeuner, Member of the New York State Bar
"GOOD MORNING! My name is investigator Holmes. Do you mind
answering a few simple questions?" If you open your door one day and are
greeted with those words, STOP AND THINK! Whether it is the local police
or the FBI at your door, you have certain legal rights of which you ought
to be aware before you proceed any further.
In the first place, when law enforcement authorities come to see
you, there are no "simple questions". Unless they are investigating a
traffic accident, you can be sure that they want information about
somebody. And that somebody may be you!
Rule number one to remember when confronted by the authorities is
that there is no law requiring you to talk with the police, the FBI, or
the representative of any other investigative agency. Even the simplest
questions may be loaded and the seemingly harmless bits of information
which you volunteer may later become vital links in a chain of
circumstantial evidence against you or a friend.
DO NOT INVITE THE INVESTIGATOR INTO YOUR HOME!
Such an invitation not only gives him the opportunity to look
around for clues to your lifestyle, friends, reading material, etc., but
also tends to prolong the conversation. The longer the conversation, the
more chance there is for a skill investigator to find out what he wants to
know.
Many times a police officer will ask you to accompany him to the
police station to answer a few questions. In that case, simply thank him
for the invitation and indicate that you are not disposed to accept it at
this time. Often the authorities simply want to photograph a person for
identification purposes, a procedure which is easily accomplished by
placing him in a private room with a two-way mirror at the station, asking
him a few innocent questions, and then releasing him.
If the investigator becomes angry at your failure to cooperate and
threatens you with arrest, stand firm. He cannot legally place you under
arrest or enter your home without a warrent signed by a judge. If he
indicates that he has such a warrent, ask to see it. A person under arrest,
or located on premises to be searched, generally must be shown a warrent
if he requests it and must be given to chance to read it.
Without a warrent, an officer depends solely upon your
helpfulness to obtain the information he wants. So, unless you are quite
sure of yourself, don't be helpful.
Probably the wisest approach to take to a persistant investigator
is simply to say: "I'm quite busy now. If you have any questions that you
feel I can answer, I'd be happy to listen to them in my lawyer's office.
Goodbye!"
Talk is cheap. When that talk involves the law enforcement
authorities, it may cost you, or someone close to you, dearly.
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