If you are being investigated for committing a misdemeanor, felony or charged with any crime in Michigan, police officers will talk to you about the case. Their goal is to get you to confess! Police Officers are skilled at getting people to confess! Do not fall for their trick. Always politely tell them you are going to exercise your constitutional right to remain silent.
Do Not Get Yourself In Trouble By Talking To Police Officers.
I hear it all the time from my client or people who call me up on the phone? Should I confess my crime to the investigating officer? I am guilty and I did it. My answer to the question will always be the same! Never Confess!
I have very good reasons for telling my clients to never confess. By confessing to a crime, you are making things harder for your criminal defense attorney. There are many cases where the prosecutor has a factually weak case. The prosecutor may plan on dismissing your charges, but they will quickly change their mind when they see the defendant has confessed to the crime.
If you are charged with a crime, it is in your best interest to have your charges dismissed. I tell people to never confess because it makes it harder for your criminal defense attorney to work their magic.
Should I Confess? Only If You Want To Make Your Attorney's Job Harder!
For example, it is harder for your criminal defense attorney to win your case at trial if you have confessed. I once had a case where the prosecutor would have dismissed the charges if it wasn’t for the fact that my client had confessed to the crime. My client told me he was pressured into the confession and that he was innocent of the charges. I believed him, but because of his confession the prosecutor wouldn’t drop the charges. Whiling winning at trial is nice, it is better for the case to be dismissed before trial. It saves my client time, money and stress.
Here is another reason why someone should never confess to a crime: you may not get a lesser charge, a better deal or a lesser sentence by the judge if you confess to the police officer. I have seen numerous people get hammered with heavy charges by prosecutors even when the person has taken “responsibility” and confessed to the crime.
I know of a case where a person was told he should confess and take responsibility for his crime. The investigators told him it would make things easier for him. The officers made it seem like he would get a lesser charge by doing so. In the end, this man is doing at least 25 years in prison! Police officers can lie to you and it is not illegal for them to do so!
Should I Confess? I committed the crime! There is a time and place to admit responsibility, assuming you have engaged in criminal activity and aren’t taking your case to trial. The time and place to take responsibility is when you formally enter your guilty plea in front of a judge.
Do Not Cave Into Pressure
When someone is facing questions from a police officer looking to charge someone for breaking the law, there is a lot of pressure on the person being investigated to confess. Sadly, many innocent people cave in and confess to a crime from this pressure. The police will interrogate you. They will tell you they have a strong case already against you and are just looking to wrap up the case. They will tell you by confessing they will go easy on you. It will be a big mistake to confess. The confession could cost you freedom, your respect in the community and your livelihood.
Top Three Reasons Not To Confess
- You’ve could waive your Miranda rights. After you were arrested the officer told you that you had the right to remain silent. If you talk to police you have waived that right. In a lot of cases, the police officer will have you sign a document that says you are waiving your Miranda rights. However, the are not required to do that. You could waive your rights even when you do verbally say or write down that you have waived your Miranda rights. Once you waive this right, it is very difficult to keep a confession out at trial.
- The police officer could very well be lying to you. When an officer says they will go easy on you they are probably lying. We know of a man in Hudsonville who confessed to a serious crime because the police would go easy on him. After getting hit with a $200,000 bond and a minimum of 25 years in prison, he admitted he should not have confessed. The police are not required to tell you the truth. Always take everything a police officer tells you with a grain of salt. Ask yourself, if they have all the evidence, they need why are they pressing you so hard for a confession?
- You could be waiving your defenses. Miranda tells you that “anything you say can and will be used against you. A person who has a valid defense to a crime should never waive that defense. If the police find cocaine in your bag, a valid defense is that you didn’t know there was cocaine in the bag. However, if the police pressure you to talk and you say something that sounds like an admission your defense just got a lot harder to sell in court.
If you are arrested or have any questions about should I confess to a crime, please call Shawn today at 616-438-6719. The call is free! Will you be?