One thing that happens on a pretty regular basis, that I get a lot of calls about, is when a detective calls and wants to talk. Unfortunately, a lot of times a person does not call until it is too late – after they took that first call; after they set up a meeting with law enforcement; and after a person gives a statement to them. If law enforcement calls, what are they looking for, and what should you do? What are you legally required to do? Should you try to manage it on your own?
The first thing to know when law enforcement calls is that, most of the time, they are likely investigating a more serious crime. You will probably get a call from a detective, someone who is trained to conduct criminal investigations and someone who gets brought in to investigate more serious crimes. They don’t typically do long, drawn out investigations into minor offenses. Law enforcement isn’t usually going to spend days, or weeks, investigating a disorderly conduct or a minor drug offense, like simple possession of a controlled substance. In my experience, these calls are made when they are investigating something much more serious, such as a sex crime, a child sex crime, child abuse, serious domestic violence, or some other higher level crime. With that, the first thing you should know is that if a detective is calling you it is a serious situation, and it is something you should take seriously, especially if you get the sense they are investigating you for an alleged crime. Some of these crimes carry a maximum possible sentence of decades, or life, in prison, and if they are at the point of calling you that means they have already likely gathered some information, or taken some statements, that pointed them in your direction. It is a very serious situation and you need to take it seriously.
While it is a serious situation, you may also get the sense that they aren’t taking it very seriously, or it is not a bid deal. When they want someone to come in and talk to them, they will often downplay the situation or frame it as they are just wanting to get some information or clear some things up. In reality, they want a person to come to see if they will confess to a crime or if they will make any admissions they should not make. They are trained in getting people to talk and cooperate with them, and often times they are good at it. While a confession is the ultimate goal, they are looking for other things as well. If they question you about some incident they will likely ask you multiple times. This is to see if the story you tell them changes. If you claim you weren’t there, then that you were there but didn’t do anything, then you did something but it was justified or there was a reason for it, or it didn’t happen exactly how they are laying it out, they will view that as you changing your story. They will frame it as, if your story is changing, you must be lying and it is indicative of your being guilty of what they believe happened. Fair or not (when a victim’s story changes it is because of “trauma,” when the accused’s story changes, no matter how slightly, it is because of “guilt”) they will use any little change in a story to argue it proves you are guilty of a crime. They are also looking at your body language – are you nervous? Are you fidgeting? Amped up and talking fast? Sweating? Not making eye contact? All of these are examples of things I have seen written in their reports as being indicators of guilt of lying by my clients in the past. To get you to talk, they will also likely minimize the situation or, if you deny what the claim happened, give you some innocent explanation, or more innocent explanation, to give a person an “out,” or a reason they did something, but not exactly what they are accused of. This, too, they will use to say it is evidence of your guilt because you are attempting to find some justification for what they claim happened.
When I get these types of calls before a person has spoken with law enforcement my advice is almost always the same. First, if you are suspected of committing a crime you have no obligation to speak to them. Under both the United States and North Dakota constitutions you have the right to remain silent. This means you have the right to not make statements that would potentially incriminate you. You do not have to give a statement to law enforcement, and you can invoke your right to remain silent – or refuse to go to an “interview,” which is their way of explaining an interrogation. My advice is almost always that a person invoke that right to remain silent and not speak with law enforcement if they suspect you committed a crime. If you talk to them, they will pull things from it to claim it shows you are guilty. Any change in the story, your body language, minimizing or justifying what happened, or anything else that seems suspicious they will use against you.
If you are uncomfortable telling a law enforcement officer no, which a lot of people are, my next recommendation is to contact a lawyer. Along with the right to remain silent and say nothing about what they believe you did you also have a right to consult an attorney before answering their questions, and to have an attorney with you if you do answer any of their questions. Contacting an experienced attorney can do a lot of good, especially at this stage of an investigation. They can help you decide if sitting for an interview is a good idea or not, they can put a buffer between you and law enforcement, and they can communicate with law enforcement on your behalf. If you don’t want to sit for an interview with law enforcement but are nervous to tell them no, or think telling them no makes you look guilty? Your attorney can call them for you and tell them the interview is not going to happen. They can explain the situation to you, talk to you about what is going on and see if they can give you some clarity on what they may be investigating and what the crime could be, and they can work with you to prepare for the possible outcomes, whether that be getting arrested and charged with a crime, sitting for an interview, or anything else. Finding an experienced attorney to have on your side is the best step you can take.
One concern a lot of people have is that, if they say no to an interview, it will make them look guilty. However, it is important to remember that if law enforcement is at a point in their investigation where they want you to come in for an interview they are also at the point where they believe that you have committed a crime. They have already likely decided that you committed this crime, and they want to talk to you to gather evidence against you. They are not going into that interview with the idea that you are going to clear things up for them and to change their mind about what they believe happened. Knowing that, why would anyone sit for an interview? My position is almost always that if they believe you committed a crime, don’t do their job for them. Don’t give them misstatements to use to claim you are lying, reason to question your body language, or anything else. If they want to investigate you for a crime you can’t change that, but you do not have to make their job easier or do the work for them. If they want to investigate, my position is nearly always that they can do that investigation without the help of the person they are accusing of the crime.
What do you do, though, if you have already talked to them? Most people don’t have a lot experience dealing with law enforcement, especially law enforcement believing they committed a serious crime that they want to question them about. A lot of the time, people panic and think they need to explain what happened, explain themselves, and try to clear the situation up. If you did that, you are not alone. Detectives are very good at getting people to talk to them, and many people agree to do it. If you have done this, what should you do next?
First, you still want to hire an attorney as soon as possible. Call a lawyer, set up a time to talk, and go over everything you remember about the interview while it is still fresh in your mind. An experienced lawyer can figure out a lot of what law enforcement is doing, and what they believe you did, based on the questions that they ask you. Many times we can even guess the exact charges that they pursue before a person is ever arrested. They can walk you through the next steps of what is likely to happen next, contact law enforcement and try to get a sense of where they are in their investigation, and try to get a timeline on when they may issue a warrant for your arrest, if that is where it is going. Occasionally, they can work with law enforcement and the State to arrange a time for a person to turn themselves in rather than having law enforcement show up at your home or work and arresting you there if they do charge you. It also helps to have a lawyer working with you as soon as possible in a case so they aren’t having to work from behind once they do charge you. Getting involved in a case before charges are even filed is beneficial to your defense because an experienced lawyer can begin working on the case and formulating a plan before you are even charged, whereas if you get a lawyer after you are charged and arrested they are behind. Law enforcement has done their investigation, the prosecutor has reviewed the case and the evidence, and they have a head start. The earlier you get a lawyer on your side the better.
If you get a call from law enforcement and you believe they are calling because they think you committed a crime the best thing you can do is calling an experienced lawyer right away to come up with a plan. They can work with you and law enforcement to figure out the best way to move forward and give you a lot of information so you fully understand the situation and what happens next. If you are in the unfortunate situation of getting these calls, call Curran Law Firm today and find out what we can do to help fight for you.
.
Disclaimer
Any blog published by Curran Law Firm, PLLC is available for information purposes only and is not considered legal advice on any subject discussed. By viewing this, or any other blog post, the reader understands that there has been no attorney-client relationship formed between the reader and Curran Law Firm, PLLC. Blog posts should not be used as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed attorney, and readers are urged to consult with an attorney on any specific legal questions they may have.