Chicago Defense Lawyer Robert J. Callahan on Talking To Police
0
V.O.: And so, I guess, you know along those lines with a narcotics offense-what’s the first thing somebody should do if they’re arrested or suspected of dealing drugs, or buying drugs, or… You know, I know there are a lot of cases out there where it’s kind of he said vs. she said when it comes to the Chicago PD especially.
Robert: Yeah, one of the things that you should never do is open your mouth. There’s an old saying around Chicago, “The fish would have never gotten caught if he hadn’t opened his mouth”. So, people think that they’re going to talk their way out of certain offenses when they get arrested or when they get interviewed or interrogated by the police and they’re almost always digging themselves a hole that they can’t get out of. The police, in doing their investigation, are not really trying to help you. I mean, they are primarily trying to do their job which is to secure a conviction against you later on. And, most likely if they’re talking to you it’s not in your best interest to say anything. So, if you do get arrested or you do get approached by the police you are better off telling them, right away, “I’d be a lot more comfortable if I had a lawyer present”. That’s one of your Constitutional Rights is to have a lawyer present. It’s one of your Miranda Rights that they’re supposed to read to you. Which it’s funny how a joke with both private lawyers, prosecutors, and judges they very infrequently read people their rights in the city of Chicago. If we can somehow show that later on during a trial or during a, actually before trial, during a motion to suppress evidence, a good amount of evidence could be dismissed. But, it’s kind of this unwritten law that it’s tolerated by most of the judges, it’s tolerated by most of the prosecutors.