Invitations from the police may be dangerous as the plague, says Fairfax criminal lawyer

Invitations from the police to talk with them, to consent to searches, to help them nab others in criminal activity, or otherwise should be seen as potential or actual booby traps that may forever adversely harm you. As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I have repeatedly witnessed the smooth and friendly approaches police have taken on video camera and audiotape not only to convince my clients to accept such invitations, but also their approaches to attempt to convince me to convince my clients to accept such requests. By reading this article, hopefully you will keep your wits about you in protecting your rights in dealing with such requests from law enforcement officers (LEOs).

What types of invitations might be extended to me by LEOs when I am an actual or potential criminal suspect?

Invitations from police start from their first interaction with you as a potential or actual Virginia criminal suspect. When police encounter you through a traffic stop or otherwise, expect them to pepper you with a barrage of questions. This machine gun approach with questions is not fair and will confuse any recipient of such questions in a situation that may already by very scary, confusing and anxiety producing to be investigated by a law enforcement officer with a badge, firearms, and the authority to detain and arrest you. For Virginia DUI investigations under Virginia Code § 18.2-266, police and Virginia assistant commonwealth’s attorneys / prosecutors will often try to justify such machine gun questioning as part of divided attention investigation, arguing that alcohol makes us less focused. C’mon. We know that multitasking is so very often unworkable. How, then, to deal with any police questioning, whether rapid fire or slower? You have the federal Constitutional Fifth Amendment right to decline to answer LEO questions and to decline searches, under the federal Constitutional Fourth Amendment. It is as simple as answering questioning with: “I will not answer your questions: and/or “I want a lawyer”. For searches, asserting your right against them is as simple as “I decline all searches”, which does not permit you to physically interfere with searches, but gives you the right to verbally decline. Also important is when you state your rights declining to answer police questions, demanding a lawyer and declining a search clearly enough to be captured on any police audiotaping or videotaping equipment, police will be less likely to seek to do an end-run around such a response from you, and, even if police try such an end run, hopefully your firm and clear refusal to speak with LEO will be caught on their recordation system, which your Virginia criminal defense attorney will hopefully obtain.

Won’t my verbal resistance to police invitations get them mad?

As a Fairfax criminal lawyer, I hand my potential clients my top ten list for asserting their rights with police and beyond when a suspect or criminal defendant. Nonetheless, numerous of my repeat Virginia criminal defense clients still answer police questions, permit searches and, for DWI investigations under Virginia Code § 18.2-266  submit to field testing (FST or SFST) and roadside preliminary breath testing (PBT), despite people’s rights to decline all of that. When I ask my potential and hired clients why they did not assert such rights, their answers often include “I was scared”, “I thought my answering or doing such tests might help me”, and “I did not want to make the police upset.” Let us think through each of the foregoing answers. 1. “I was scared”. Understood. Not asserting your rights against police invitations to talk, submit to searches, submit to FSTs or assist police in pursuing other suspects (unless with the assistance of the right lawyer for all of the foregoing items) can make for a scarier situation by narrowing and eliminating key defenses you may have in court. 2. “I thought my answering or doing such tests might help me.” You are out of your league dealing with the law enforcement professionals known as police or LEO’s. Leave such efforts to the qualified Virginia criminal defense attorney you need to obtain. 3. “I did not want to make the police upset.” What do you prefer, making police upset (who sometimes pretend upset), or three hots and a cot for a jail sentence or denial of pretrial bail?

What do I do if the police ask me to talk to them to explain my side of the story?

Too many people convicted of Virginia felony or misdemeanor offenses fell for the police ploy to come to the police station, meet in a neutral place (even buying you carryout lunch as a legal bribe), or meet at your home or workplace, so that police can get “your side of the story” when suspecting you, or to “clear up” that your role in the alleged crime was not as bad as it may be claimed to look at first blush (for instance when police say “we want to know if you were only the getaway driver in this robbery” or “we just want to know whether this is the only time you have shared child pornography or solicited a minor for sex“. A variation on that theme is when a Virginia criminal suspect (often a drug suspect) and being offered to speak with a detective or other specialized law enforcement officer to “cooperate” or otherwise provide information or assistance with the possiblity (without any guarantee) of making things better for you. In that situation, police often will say “this mistake does not mean you are a bad person” (which they commonly say in trying to persuade any suspect to give up their right to remain silent) or “we are not too interested in you, but instead on your drug supplier” (no matter how interested they are or are not in you, police are permitted to lie in working to persuade you to talk or otherwise to give up your rights with the police, and a cop’s interest level or not in you does not preclude a prosecution and conviction).

What is the simplest and ideal way to deal with police requests?

For police invitations to talk, submit to searches, do FSTs or PBT’s or otherwise help them, you have the right to say no. Yes, the law requires post-arrest breath testing and blood testing when asked by the police. Yes, you must display your license and registration when stopped by police as a driver. Yes, if you decline to provide the police and court magistrate basic booking answers (including your full name, full address and place of work) that might backfire, but at the same time, skilled police will often first ask you booking questions that do not require telling you your right to remain silent (and your right to remain silent and to assert your rights precedes being told of your right to decline any of that), and then smoothly transitioning to telling you your Miranda rights to remain silent and to a lawyer, and then continuing the questioning (because the Virginia and federal appellate courts do not require police to ask you if you understand or waive your Miranda rights). Too many people have been convicted and have been sent to jail and prison for not asserting the rights they need to assert with police.

Fairfax criminal lawyer Jonathan Katz relentlessly pursues your best defense. Secure your free in-person initial confidential consultation with Jon Katz about your court-pending Virginia prosecution, by contacting us at 703-383-1100, Info@Katzjustice.com and (text) 571-406-7268.