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Comment by 3131s | Hacker News Reader

> that you don't typically get out of legal trouble once you're in the authorities' clutches by "technical cleverness".

Right, technical cleverness is the lawyer's job. If you get arrested on any serious charges in the US politely tell the police that you need to speak to a lawyer.

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In the US you should almost always tell police, no matter what the question, that you decline to answer any questions without your lawyer. Don't talk to the police, they aren't your friends. They are trying to build a case to convict someone, and not necessarily a guilty person.

I feel like this advice, though not bad, always needs to have some sort of follow-up about how you procure "your" lawyer. Is it best to do it in advance (by having a list of local names and areas of expertise) or at the time of arrest (will you have access to Google?)? Should you take your chances with either a court-appointed one or whoever has the flashiest advertisements made available to you? Most of us don't have someone to call "my lawyer", so the prospect of invoking a non-existent figure makes it all the more tempting to simply answer the police's questioning.

If you are talking about the US, If you don't have a lawyer, one will be appointed for you.

You still don't have to answer questions and should never answer questions until you can consult with a lawyer.

The classic video from a law professor and former criminal defense attorney, with a response from an active police detective.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE

"I will never talk to a police officer under any circumstances"

Yes, I know, I watched that around when it was first posted. But how effective is a court-appointed lawyer going to be, controlled for various types of legal hassle, controlled for (in the case of an accusation) actual guilt and innocence? In a case of refusing to disclose a password (or even admit the existence of a password, saying literally nothing), are you going to trust the court appointed lawyer or (if you could procure them) someone at the EFF to better represent you? All lawyers have to meet certain obligations but that doesn't mean they're all equal.

Given that most people talk too much to the police most of the time without dire consequences (police have a lot of flexibility in what they can do with your volunteered information, it's a two-edged sword) a more careful cost-benefit analysis of saying nothing or saying certain things is irresistible to smart tech people. If you're going to take the principled 'never talk under any circumstances' approach you need to have thought of various situations so you can make that principle work the most for you and not let it become an unnecessary cost.

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