You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be used
against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney
during interrogation; if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be
appointed to you.
1. "You have the right to remain silent" means KEEP YOUR
MOUTH SHUT. It's not called a Warning for nothing. You
may safely state the following:
(a) Your name.
(b) Your address.
(c) Your Social Security Number if asked.
(d) "I invoke my 5th Amendment right to an attorney."
Invoking your Rights is not an admission of guilt. It just means that
you are smart enough to call an expert for advice.
2. "Anything you say will be used against you in a court of law"
means that anything you say will be used
against you in court. You can count on it.
3. "You have the right to an attorney during interrogation"
sounds as if you can invoke your right to an attorney at any time during
the interrogation. Don't count on it and don't bet on it.
Ask for an attorney before the interrogation.
3. "But I don't need an attorney! I didn't do anything
wrong!" is the most disastrous phrase a fraud victim can say to
law enforcement detectives, because it tells the detectives that they can
use all interrogation techniques at their disposal without the presence of
advising counsel to warn you to keep your mouth shut.
Fraud victims who are arrested are always an emotional disaster area,
frightened, confused, angry, and not thinking straight. In other
words, ideal for interrogation.
Law enforcement works for the prosecution. If you are considered a
suspect in a crime, the police are not on your side, even if you are a
fellow law enforcement officer.
No matter who you are, no matter what your job title is, from President of
a major corporation, to law enforcement, to professional, to housewife, to
politician, to business owner, to Hollywood star, to college student,
during an interrogation the police are not your friends, no matter how
they act.
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Law enforcement and the fraud victim as a
suspect.
The police do not interview a person about his or her participation or
knowledge of a crime unless that person is suspected of having committed a
crime or been a participant in the commission of a crime.
Participation means having an active involvement in, or purposely
unreported knowledge of, the crime before, during, or after it was
committed. The legal terms are Accessory Before the Fact, Accessory
During the Fact, and Accessory After the Fact
Fraud is a theft crime, sometimes only State, sometimes only Federal,
sometimes both.
If you are a fraud victim contacted by the police:
1. Unless you
are witnessed committing a crime by someone at the scene or by law
enforcement and the arrest if proximate to the crime, you cannot be
arrested without an arrest warrant signed by a judge. You have a
right to read the warrant, and you have the right to a copy of the
warrant.
2. Do
not accompany the police anywhere until you are properly arrested and have
been read your Miranda Rights or Warning. Merely state that you
"respectfully decline." If all they want to do is talk to you, they
can do so where you are at that moment or at your home.
If the police are agreeable to an interview
at your location of choice, do not speak to them without a witness
and, if possible, a tape recorder in plain view Say, "Do you mind if I
tape this conversation?" If the police object to either the witness
or the tape recorder, respectfully decline the interview.
You do not have an obligation to accompany the police to
their offices, and we don't recommend that you do unless you're going to
be looking at mug shots.
Your legal protections don't start until you are placed
under arrest. You have no legal protection until that moment.
3. Once you have been read your Miranda Rights or
Warning, SHUT UP.
4. If you are asked to sign a document agreeing
that you have been read your rights and understand them, STOP. Read
the document slowly and carefully. Take your time.
Make very sure the document doesn't also contain a waiver
of your Miranda Rights and if it does, make very sure you are signing on
the correct line. Place your finger, not an X, on the correct line
and sign your name next to your finger.
5. Immediately invoke your right to private
consultation with your attorney, court-appointed or otherwise.
6. Do not under any circumstances, sign any
document between the time you have read your Miranda Rights or Warning and
the time you consult with your attorney except:
(a) The acknowledgment that that your Rights were read
to you and that you understand them as explained in 3. above.
(b) The inventory list of what was taken off your
person.
7. NEVER WAIVE ANY RIGHTS. Do not,
under any circumstances, waive your Miranda Rights. Keep your mouth
shut. Do not start talking. If you hear yourself talking, stop
it. It is possible that if you start answering questions, it may be
construed by the District Attorney's Office that you waived your rights.
8. Invoking your Miranda Rights does not mean you
will go to jail. No one can advise you that if you do not
waive your rights, you will go to jail. That is against the law.
It may be termed Intentional Infliction of Emotional or Mental Distress.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intentional_infliction_of_emotional_distress
9. No one can truthfully
say, "It will go easier on you if you don't ask for an attorney."
That is a myth created in Hollywood. Only a jury can decide your
fate.
10. Law and Order
and NYPD Blue are not real life. Do not make life-altering
decisions based on what you have seen on those shows.
______________
Detectives interview and interrogate bad guys all day every day.
They study interview techniques, interviewing psychology, body language,
tone of voice, phrases to watch for, discrepancies and changes in answers.
It is their job to elicit a confession of guilt or to elicit incriminating
statements from suspects.
They are as skilled at their job as the scammer is who talked you into the
fraud. You are a fish out of water. You can incriminate
yourself in the blink of an eye with a statement you believe will absolve
you of all guilt. Just keep your mouth shut!
The Constitution guarantees the presumption of innocence. In too
many jurisdiction and in too many circumstances the investigating
detectives operate under the presumption of guilt.
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You and your
attorney
You and your attorney are a team. He is not the master. You do
not simply nod your head up and down like a bobble toy at everything he
says. You must actively participate in your own defense.
There is no such thing as a stupid question. The rest of your life
is at stake. If you do not completely and clearly understand a
statement and the consequences of that statement, do not agree until you
do.
Demand of your attorney that he ask for broad discovery, as broad as you
can make it. Broad discovery means any and all information and
documents held by the prosecution that pertain to your case. You
cannot mount an intelligent defense if you do not know what you are up
against.
No one has the right to take away your right to a trail by a jury
of your peers. You can give it up (plea bargain) but no one else can
take it away from you. It is a Constitutional Right.
Pleading out, i.e. pleading to a lesser charge, means that you are turning
your fate over to the very people whose job it is to put you in prison.
If you are not guilty of any charges, don't agree that you are.
If your attorney, public defender or otherwise, pleads you out without
your full understanding of the consequences, don't do it. What you
are doing is entering a guilty plea.
The alternative is a trial by a jury of 12 impartial men and women who
have no vested interest in the outcome, no hidden agenda.
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