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In criminal defense, time can be of the essence. Being able to reach your Central Florida Criminal Defense Attorney quickly and efficiently can aid your case, and affect the outcome of it. This is why The Defense Group strives to keep all lines of communication with clients open, even offering bilingual services for Spanish-speaking clients.
“We are available service 24/7/365. If you are a Spanish-speaking client, or even if bi-lingual you are more comfortable conversing in Spanish, we are ready to serve you. We have an attorney who is fully bilingual – and our Senior Legal Assistant is licensed to practice law in Puerto Rico. We have staff members that are fully bilingual and they will be happy to chat with you and make sure that they can talk to you and your witnesses comfortably. If you are an English-speaking client, then we have several options for them. Everyone in our office speaks English.”
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The best time to speak to a criminal defense attorney is as soon as possible. It is hard to overemphasize the importance of speaking to an attorney before you speak to anyone else.
Once you begin to make statements, you are locked in to whatever it is you say. If you change your story later you appear to be dishonest. If you are tricked into making admissions on the record, they are almost impossible to take back.
NEVER, NEVER, EVER, EVER TALK WITH THE POLICE!! No matter how friendly and professional the police officer is, he is not your friend. He or she is just doing their job, but their job is to find someone to arrest and prosecute. If they are talking to you, you run the risk of being that person. An officer will seldom ask you a question, unless it is that officer’s fond hope that your answer will make it possible for him to place you or someone you care about in jail.
Whether you have already been arrested or the police simply stop your vehicle or come to your door, the response should always be the same:
- Be polite;
- Be courteous.
- Salk in a low tone of voice.
- Be respectful.
- Politely refuse to have any conversation at all with the officer.
- Advise the officer that you want to speak with your attorney before engaging in ANY conversation.
- Don’t fall for the “Good cop-Bad cop” routine.
- Don’t permit the officer to minimize the possible consequences of talking with them (shaming you about ‘lawyering up’ because he is just trying to figure out what happened and he needs your help.)
- NEVER CONSENT TO A SEARCH OF YOUR CAR, YOUR PERSON, YOUR BUSINESS, YOUR HOME OR ANYTHING YOU HAVE CONTROL OVER. If the police believe they have the right to search without your consent, they will do so. If you give them consent then they are allowed to search even if it later turns out they had no right to do so.
- ALWAYS be prepared to exercise your “rights.”
- The “Right to Remain Silent” is not a right conferred by the police when they give you Miranda Warnings. You woke up with that right. You should always exercise it.
- The police are trained to ask you questions that will produce answers that do not help you. Don’t try to outsmart them. JUST SHUT UP!
So, when should you talk to an attorney? Before you talk to anyone else. As soon as you think you may be a suspect in a criminal event.
It is possible to wait too late to talk to an attorney but it is impossible to seek out advise too early.
Call one of the experienced criminal defense attorneys at The Defense Group at 407 743 8430 or 407-250-9557
WE CAN HELP!!
