If the police question me, should I answer them?

If the police question me, should I answer them?

Q: If the police question me, should I answer them?
A: Probably not.
An individual being questioned by the police may feel pressure to cooperate with them. The police often encourage a suspect to unburden himself by holding out the possibility that by cooperating, the suspect can untangle himself from the potential criminal charges. This is a common technique used by the police. The police have no intention of helping suspects. Often times, the police – lacking evidence with which to secure a conviction, can only obtain a conviction by compelling a suspect to incriminate himself. Many individuals, desperate to improve their situation, talk to the police, thereby drastically reducing their chances of an acquittal at trial. The police are not interrogating you in an effort to improve your position, they are trying to solve the crime – and at your expense. Resist the temptation to speak with the police without first having contacted a criminal defense attorney. Instead, inform the police of the following:

that you are exercising your right to remain silent;
that you are exercising your right to speak with an attorney before submitting to questioning;
that you want to exercise your right to make a telephone call. (The police will not normally limit you to only one telephone call).

If the police continue to question you, say nothing. I have had clients inform me that when they insisted that they wanted to speak with a lawyer before further questioning, the police pressed the client to waive that right. Some detectives have told suspects that a lawyer would only make matters worse and that they, the detectives, were the only ones empowered to help the suspect. Detectives have often lied to suspects about the evidence that they have gathered. In an effort to brake a suspect's silence, detectives have been known to tell him that they have recovered his fingerprint from the crime scene. These tactics are not uncommon. The fact that you refused to speak with the police cannot be used against you at trial. Do not panic and do not allow the police to bait you into breaking your silence.