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If I’m Innocent, Why Shouldn’t I Talk to the Police?

To someone who is not familiar with the law and police interrogation tactics, it is reasonable to think that if you are innocent and have nothing to hide, there’s no good reason to not speak to the police if they want to question you. However, nothing could be further from the truth. In criminal cases, the “Golden Rule” is that if there is even a remote chance you could be implicated in a crime, you never talk to the police without first consulting with an attorney.

Confessing to a Crime that Never Happened

In general, nothing good will ever come from talking to the police. But, you might think: I have nothing to hide, and, if I’m innocent, what could go wrong with answering a few questions? How about confessing to a murder that never happened? That’s exactly what happened to Tom Perez in California when he confessed to murdering his own dad. In reality, his dad was alive and never in any danger. Detectives questioned Tom for hours on end and told him lies about the evidence they had against him. Eventually, he cracked and confessed to killing his dad. This would never have happened if Tom had spoken to an attorney first and followed the Golden Rule. You can read about Tom’s case here.

Legal to Lie

Many of our clients are shocked when they learn that the police can legally lie to a suspect about the evidence they have. For example, in a murder case, the police can falsely claim that a suspect’s DNA was found at a crime scene. In a rape case, the police can falsely claim that, after a physical exam at a hospital, a woman had injuries to her vaginal area. In an armed robbery case, the police can falsely claim that a witness picked the suspect out of a line-up and was 100% sure of his identification. The list of lies the police can tell suspects are almost endless.

The Cato Institute, a conservative-libertarian think tank, recently published an excellent policy paper about the “pervasive role” of the use of deceit by police officers during interrogations. The Cato Institute points out how our country is an “outlier” in allowing the police to lie to suspects, “as the practice is prohibited or highly restricted in most peer nations, including England, France, Germany, and Japan.” Police deception is just one of the many reasons why you should never talk to the police without first speaking with an attorney. You can read about the Cato Institute’s policy paper and the use of police deceit in interrogations here.

If a police officer ever asks you to answer questions about a crime and you need an aggressive and knowledgeable criminal defense lawyer to defend your rights, your first call should be to the Nobles & Yanez Law Firm at (702) 641-6001.