“She declined to say what was on the ill-fated lunch menu, or whether she had eaten it.”
Why would she decline this? Did she just not tell the media, but told the police?
Why would she decline this? Did she just not tell the media, but told the police?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE
edit: the video is a talk a criminal lawyer gave explaining why it's a bad idea to talk to the police. If you want a more detailed explanation, watch it.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_silence_in_England_an...
I'm Canadian so it's not like this (not talking to the cops being the better option) is unique to the US.
Its basically civil discovery except for a criminal matter. Good luck in a civil case bringing up some evidence at the 11th hour when its obvious to the other side you had that evidence from the start.
Also, you don't have to talk in the UK just like the US. You still have the right to be silent.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_silence_in_Australia
EDIT: And after watching some of the video the presenter seems to be making the case that you should never interact with the police. And maybe even moreso -- maybe never communicate at all w/o your lawyer since there are laws you may be breaking at any point in time that you may not realize.
If prosecution doesn't care about the truth, and the police happily will comopletely fabricate out of thin air, and you regularly break laws you aren't even aware of -- it seems like talking to police is a relatively small problem.
Despite what popular culture teaches us, the truth isn't going to come out because crack team of investigators using DNA and cool tech to magically solve a case. The police are going to pick an easy target to pin everything on, and trick them into giving enough information for the prosecution to strong arm a plea deal.
It's not about justice, it's about solving cases with the lowest possible effort.
Isn't that effectively Occam's Razor [1]? The guy with the worst defense should be the culprit.
To sum it up: never speak to police without a lawyer.
Knowing several officers, including some id never want to run across as part of their job, I do think they are far more likely to fabricate something that corroborates what they actually believe to be true.
That is if they come by and ask you what you saw the night your neighbors house was broken into and your response is “I’d like to talk to my lawyer”, seems like you just bought yourself a whole lot of headache for probably no good reason.
"I committed the crime" on the other hand is an instant confession and conviction.
So the best advice is always – keep your mouth shut.
My father ended up a night in jail because he gave in good faith poor information (that they still used). Don't talk to the police. Even if you're white: as long as you're not in a suit, don't do it.
Certainly providing the menu that might exonerate you is probably fine -- but that's what a lawyer is for.
And people watch too many police procedurals (tv shows). The cop you're talking to only has one job: gather evidence. It's not his job to determine your guilt or innocence or whether the evidence rises to the level where the DA will file charges. Telling him something that can exonerate you does nothing for you. Your lawyer needs to make sure that evidence is available to the DA (if you want to avoid charges being filed) or the jury, if it gets that far.
> How can giving the police information that can exonerate you always be a bad idea?
Hearsay. If you hear somebody say they committed a crime, it's not the same as witnessing them commit the crime. Hearsay is generally inadmissible as evidence. It goes the same way with what you told the police. The cop you're talking to hasn't witnessed anything. He can only repeat what you've said, which is inadmissible.