9. Even if a suspect is guilty and wants to confess, there may be other factors, which would justify a lesser charge. Sometimes, the police do not have as much evidence as it may appear. The police may suggest you committed the most severe crime possible when the evidence does not support it. The suspect may have committed a lesser grade of the same offense or some other offense altogether. It is important to wait to speak to an attorney before admitting any information.
Example: When a client gives a confession, the police are very good at making sure the suspect with whom they are interviewing confesses to each and every element of the offense for which they could be charged. This could lead to a person being overcharged. In many cases, we see indictments that have 10 or 15 counts, when it was a series of one single criminal act. Again, there are too many examples we have seen to list a particular case. However, when a person wants to take responsibility for what they have done, It is far better to first hire a Georgia Criminal Defense Attorney to work out a plea agreement. We can contact the prosecutor and work out a pre-indictment plea to one or two criminal charges, not the entire series of crimes that could have potentially been charged.
10. Even for a completely honest and innocent person, it is challenging to tell the same story twice precisely the same way. If you told your story to the police first, and then you repeat your story in court, the chances are very high that some little details in your statement are going to change. This can happen when you are 100% truthful. A good prosecutor will pick up on these changes and will relentlessly question you about them, to make it look like you are lying. Even if it is a minor detail, evidence that you lied or were mistaken can look unfavorable to a jury.
Example: We do not have to look to the criminal law to see if this is true. If anyone remembers playing the telephone game as a child, when you line up children and whisper something in one child’s ear, by the time the story goes through many different people, the story will fundamentally change. It is tough to remember exactly what happened especially after being interrogated by the police. However, when looked at logically, no person can give the same statement over and over again without minor changes. You can still be criticized for memorizing your statement, yet still. There is essentially no way to win when giving a statement to the police.
Call us at 678.324.8511;
E-mail us at info@lawrencelegal.law; or
Click here to schedule a consultation.
