I have written about it before and said it until I am blue in the face, but a recent criminal case again reminds me that it just can’t be said enough. In this recent article https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mvkgnp/law-professor-police-interrogation-law-constitution-survival a law professor writes about the many things that can go wrong when you talk to police. People that are likely to talk to police are often people that haven’t had much contact with police and think “Hey, what can go wrong” and often don’t understand the dangers. People often forget facts, or state wrong times in reference to where they were at certain times leading police to think you are lying, police can lie to you, often misremember what persons said or put different contexts and meanings on your words. This article sums up the many ways in which things can go wrong— its a must read even for, and likely most importantly, for people that are not breaking the law and are likely innocent as those people can really mess things up and make it hard for a defense even when actually innocent.
The professor makes sure to point out the United States Supreme Court case that allows your right to remain silent against you unless you specifically, and properly, invoke the right to remain silent. He takes a well thought out approach and offers a great plan of stating your name, and saying simply that you want a lawyer. Saying that you want a lawyer ends any interrogation, creating a situation where you don’t have to say your remaining silent in the first place and taking the power away from the police. I agree wholeheartedly with this approach, and you should too. Read up and empower yourself.