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WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
PREARREST
So the "The Man" wants to talk to you - what do you do?
You have the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney. Do not give these rights away without something in return. Tell The Man that you want to talk to a lawyer.
Tell The Man that you want to talk to a lawyer! Period. End of conversation.
There is nothing about the situation that you can do that will be more important than refusing to talk to The Man before talking to a lawyer first. It is pretty simple. Keep telling The Man that you want to talk to a lawyer and tell them you won't talk to them without talking to a lawyer first. After a few tries The Man will give up. The Man will even respect you for standing up like a man and doing the only smart thing that you can do at that point.
Why is it so important that you not talk to The Man except to only say and keep only saying that you want to talk to a lawyer?
The reasons that you stand on this right are many.
First, your forefathers and foremothers Patriots have suffered, fought and died for the rights to a lawyer and the right to remain silent since the founding of this Country by true Patriots and Revolutionaries.
You have no right to give away freely what they purchased with blood.
Second, anything that you say will be used against you. There are really only 2 types of statements that you can make. You can make an incriminatory statement and we all know what that means, I hope. It means that you say, directly or indirectly, that you did it. Or you can make an exculpatory statement--- usually self serving, stating directly or indirectly that you didn't do it. Of course they are going to use the incriminatory statements. They are going to use the exculpatory statement to incriminate you as well, to show that you were "conscious of your guilt". There is absolutely nothing that you can gain by waiving your rights.
Third, the law of evidence says that The Man can pick and choose the parts of your statement that they want to use against you. However, you have no corresponding right to use any part of your statement at all, except for one very limited and narrow exception.
Fourth, The Man is smarter than you.
When The Man goes through the Academy they are given classes on how to get a confession. When The Man graduates and goes to work they are given, usually yearly at least, refresher classes on how to get a confession. When The Man goes to work each day and there is a new case, bearing on how to get a confession, they are informed about it at roll call. Finally, they practice and practice all the time on getting statements that will be used against dumb schmucks who go ahead and talk to them instead of a lawyer.
Fifth, your lawyer is smarter than The Man. In fact, your lawyer should be one of the smartest people that you will ever meet.
Sixth, innocent people are convicted all the time, using statements that they made, against them. People have even confessed to murders that they had no part in. That happens a lot too.
In conclusion, shut up! Let us deal with the bastards, Ok?
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