> You do not have to say anything. But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court.
> You do not have to say anything. But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court.
I read that as "Holding back information that may be pertinent in an investigation will be looked upon poorly".
It's not like the US is any better here - If a charge is trumped up or has bolt-ons to get you to take a plea deal, it's exactly the same thing, if not worse.
Silence can’t be used against you.
That is better than silence being used against use.
Conflating that with trumped up charges is irrelevant to that point.
Do you have a source for that?
It also seems like he succeeded, because the original and all reuploads except for some ultra low-quality copies are gone from youtube.
And also, the original lecture isn't a reupload but found on the channel of his own university (both at the time of the first and the second lecture): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE
Damn, you need to watch it again. He only updates the advice to say that one needs to be explicit about their intention to remain silent and await an attorney.
I didn't know that, that's pretty interesting.
> Because in the real world that strategy is more likely to get you convicted after all.
I don't think that's true. That's true for not cooperating, but you should do so with a lawyer. You shouldn't' talk to police until you get a lawyer. That's all.
It sure can, but in more hypocritical and roundabout ways:
The cops take suspision on your silence, and push extra hard to get you, instead of letting you go after a routine questioning.
Or the prosecution is offended by your silence and throws the book at you.
Technically both get to swear that your silence was never an issue, while both being motivated to fuck you over because of it.
They're two sides of the same coin. Let's say you are being accused of crime X, and you know you're innocent of it, and can prove it, because your spouse did it/you were hooking up with a congressman on grindr at the time/you were doing something else illegal you don't want to admit to/you believe the US justice system is fair and impartial.
The sentencing for said federal crime is N years. The prosecution charging you with crime X, plus Y plus Z with a potential max sentence of M years, or you can take a plea for N-2 years".
It all boils down to "are you willing to gamble spending M (where M >>>> N-2) years in prison based on an accusation designed to intimidate you".
> Silence can’t be used against you.
As sibling comments have mentioned, not (no longer?) true.
"Opinion recap: If you want to claim the Fifth…"
> Because merely keeping quiet when police ask damaging questions is not claiming a right to silence, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, prosecutors may use that silence against the suspect at the trial. If an individual is voluntarily talking to the police, he or she must claim the Fifth Amendment right of silence, or lose it; simply saying nothing won’t do, according to the ruling.
* https://www.scotusblog.com/2013/06/opinion-recap-if-you-want...
"Silence as evidence: U.S. Supreme Court holds that the Fifth Amendment does not bar using a suspect’s silence as evidence of guilt"
* https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=61f0c293-44b7...
Could you explain how one can exercise their right to silence without holding back information?