We have all seen the television version of this circumstance. The hero detective has the perp in his sights but has no evidence to arrest him. He goes out to “talk” to him but the “perp” refuses. Then he pulls out the big gun, talk to me now or talk to me “downtown”.
The perp folds and gives the hero detective all he needs to arrest him and they go “downtown”.
Of course the reality is the “perp” is a citizen who the “hero” has targeted and uses his superior knowledge of the legal system to make the arrest. It is a standard writer’s device to advance the story line, but unfortunately it is all too real.
The mistake the citizen makes is that this is a “level field” and the officer is going to make it better, if he just “co-operates”.
If the officer has no arrest warrant or probable cause to make an on-scene arrest, then there is no trip “downtown”. Any suggestion of such a trip should be met with a let me call my lawyer first reply.
Should you find yourself under arrest for an offense and being interrogated for the offense, your only response should be exercising your right to have counsel present.
Television (cop shows) have turned this Constitutional Right into a dispicable act. How dare this citizen, “lawyer up”! But it is exactly what you should do. If there is no problem with the police interrogation, why would they object to having someone there who is representing only your interests. The police do not represent you, their interest is in closing the case by making an arrest. The prosecutor is not representing your interests he is representing Government. (Some victims think the prosecutor represents them, this is not so; the victim is merely a witness for the Government).
If you are asked to “go downtown” decline. If you are confronted with threats, even subtle ones, for refusing then you definitely need to have a lawyer on your side of this “conversation”.
As was said in the last blog, Miranda is important. It is a right that should never be casually discarded in the hope that you can cooperate yourself out of trouble.
Interrogations are no longer called such, now they are interviews. The police are taught very sophisticated methods of getting the responses they want from anyone. Yes, from anyone. This is not the time to go it alone and hope for the best, your freedom is at stake, maybe for 20-30 years.