Vermithrax]I've been reading about this for the last couple of days. What a shame. Yea Zelik, I read that these federal "experts" trained literally thousands of state experts.
I wonder how many appeals this is going to cause.
This is a really good video about why you shouldn't talk to police or answer questions. Go to 23:05, it's relevant to this whole situation. Even if you're innocent, any statements made to police can be used against you along with "mistaken or unreliable evidence" to get a conviction against you.
The funniest part about that is people think that it helps them...
I can't tell you how many times I've had to arrest someone for bullshit because "I want a lawyer." Obviously I cannot talk to them after that but what I really want to say is, "Dude, their story sounds like bullshit to me. If you just tell me they're lying I won't arrest you." But obviously I can't.
It's easy to get confused obviously because people don't deal with this every day. If I walk up to you and ask you, "What happened?" It means I'm either not convinced by the other person's story, I actually have no clue what happened, or I'm conducting an investigation. A lot of times those people, because they've been told to by a lawyer, say that they want a lawyer and won't talk to me. Unfortunately, that means that my entire investigation relies on what the other people are telling me and I am unable to go any further with it.
For example: We get a call from a relative that his mom texted him that his brother stabbed her. We show up, blood EVERYWHERE and she's bleeding out. She's uncooperative and doesn't like us. So after a huge standoff with the adult brother who had himself locked in his bedroom and a footchase, we catch him. The first thing we ask him is, "Dude, what's going on?" He responds, "I want a lawyer." Guess who's going to jail. While at the jail he states, "You made a false arrest, she tried to stab me." That may be true but someone wanted a lawyer so my investigation is based on what I saw and was told...
The difference is after I've done an investigation and read you the Miranda Admonishment, informing you of your fifth amendment rights. This means that I have enough evidence to believe that you committed the crime and I'm placing you under arrest. Then you can ask for your attorney to help you get out of a crime you committed. Or at least plead out to a petty theft after breaking into a house, stealing a TV, and punching the home owner in the face after they woke up and scared you.
