Feb 3, 2010
Why you should never talk to the police
The Miranda warning says everything you say can be used against you. But did you know it cannot be used for you?
(Video will start at the relevant portion of the lecture.)
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This is a great video. I’ve watched it a few times before.
Very informative!
Perhaps it’s not important in light of the facts he presents, but am I the only one who thinks there something irrepressibly sleazy about that guy?
No, I think it’s the way he talks very quickly. It makes him seem like a salesman.
He’s not sleazy at all; he’s a professor at a Christian law school. I was his student. Despite having a law degree from Harvard and being many-times published and having his opinion sought by judiciary committees, he chooses to teach at a Christian school and often begins class with worship while he plays the guitar.
Be careful about making hasty judgments!
Amen! I had to put aside my own stereotypes when I watched the video, because he was once a defense lawyer and he talked fast. I had to power through my stereotype of “smooth-talkin, fast-talking defense attorney.”
I was curious about him being a Christian because he kept mentioning people in your Bible study as examples!
Thank you, Becky! I’m glad to be caught on that one.
I would advise to never put yourself in a situation where you need to have your Miranda rights read to you.
Can you think of a situation where you might be innocent and in need of the police reading your Miranda rights to you?
Absolutely, I can!
Innocent people are held in custody all the time. Mostly, they’re let go, but the point of this video is that talking to the police can only make it more likely for you—an innocent person—to be found guilty.
Check out the video for examples. It’s very intriguing. The last half of the video is a cop confirming what the law professor says.
“I would advise to never put yourself in a situation where you need to have your Miranda rights read to you.”
Right. Live like Jesus, and this sort of thing will never happen to you.
=p
Jesus did not have the Miranda statement read to him.
That part is in the Gospel of Thomas.
I was the first responder at a shooting between two Hispanic males. I was covered in blood, while dressed in civilian clothes.
The police rounded up a dozen African American males and took them “downtown for questioning”. And me, the white male, covered in blood and found in between the two guys fighting, was I questioned?
No. I tried to give a statement, and was consistently brushed off and told to go away.
If I was a black male rounded up for questioning, I would shut up.
WHAT?? You may be arrested doing exactly what Jesus did…preach open air and witness to people.
Usually the police don’t know the law, and arrest because they don’t like the message, therefore the arrestee is innocent of any wrongdoing.
Funny thing. First, I thought this was so off, we should confess our guilt for our soul’s sake. (James 5:16)
Now I just remembered Jesus didn’t talked very little when he was hauled before authorities, but he was innocent. Isaiah 53:7, Matt 26:63. Still inclined to confess if I am guilty of sin (diff from being guilty of illegal activity) and keep quiet if I am inncoent of sin and trust God. Don’t worry about this judicial system, worry about the next one! I Peter 2:23, Rev 20:12
I pray not. That would be too scary for me. I cling to God every moment so nothing will happen that God and I won’t be able to handle.
I’m not sure I understand what you are asking, Mark. Do you mean can I think of a situation where an innocent person was wrongly arrested by the police and had his Miranda rights read to him?
We felt like total dorks watching this whole 45 minute video, but it was really intriguing.
I can *totally* imagine a situation where an innocent person gets arrested. But our instinct is to defend ourselves/explain ourselves, and his point is, we should just shut up.
But I know if I were in that situation, everything within me would want to rise up and prove my innocence. But it really would do no good at the point of arrest.
I was just thinking the other day, Abraham’s been going on these night time walks around Minneapolis. What if some night he got picked up for a crime that he didn’t commit b/c he was in the right vicinity, he matched a description, etc? It probably won’t happen, but it definitely *does* happen.
@Mark-
Even if you don’t have the Miranda rights read to you, you could still be in a position to say something you’re going to regret. People are always asked to come down to the police station to just answer some questions. They might not have been related to the investigation at all, but they happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, or they happened to know or have just met someone who got caught up in whatever mess. Hopefully the police would be good enough at their job to weed out the large list of suspects they start out with, but you never know when something you said that was meant to help their investigation could come back and bite you in the butt.
On the other hand, I can’t imagine keeping my mouth shut 100% if something had happened to a friend of mine and I wanted to help the investigation. If I somehow ridiculously end up as a suspect, I guess that’s on me.
I’ve watched “The First 48″ many times and wondered at how adept the suspects are at shooting themselves in the foot by running on at the mouth. My wife and I (both lawyers) find ourselves almost yelling at the screen, “Shut up!” But then we’re happy when the guy who obviously did it ends up in a tearful confession.
This movie completely ignores the many, many people who have talked to police, and the police have said, “Alright, Carry On” and if they hadn’t talked to them the police would have been suspicious and sent in the bigger guns.
In short, this video is dangerous.
I’m confused. What exactly are the “bigger guns?”
It’s like this – when the police say they want to ask you questions you can say Yes or No.
Let’s say you’re innocent and say Yes, and answer their questions many times they’ll let you go on your way.
But if you’re innocent and say ‘no’ they will have reason to be suspicious of you and get a warrant or bring you in or call in higher officials.
All avoided by people who just answer their questions. All over the country. Every day.
The start of the video talks about how that never actually happens. No one talks their way out of it. An off-camera police officer confirms this.
Also, you can only arrest someone if you have probable cause. If I remember right, since you have no obligation to answer the police’s questions before you are detained, they are not allowed to use that refusal to talk as evidence of probable cause.
In short, courts won’t allow police to arrest you merely because you refused to talk voluntarily, and if they have more convincing evidence, your talking will almost always fail to get you out of being arrested.
Abraham didn’t say anything about a gun… how did you know a gun was involved?
If it’s “dangerous,” it’s only because we have a populace ignorant of its rights and a legal system ignorant of its boundaries.
You are under no obligation to comply with a police officer’s request to ask you a few questions. In constitutional terms, it’s called a consensual encounter, and you are free to blow them off as you wish. Once they have exercised their authority over you (either by physical restraint or verbal demand) you are not free to walk away without repercussions. At that point you are “seized,” but the police don’t have to read Miranda warnings until that seizure rises to the level of arrest. Police have a few hoops to jump over before that happens. So yes, the moral to the story is if you are in a questionable situation, don’t talk to police until you have to.
-A law student who loves Jesus
An awesome surprise to see this posted here. That’s my former law school professor. He’s an awesome Christan man and one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever known. Though I should warn you, Abraham, he’s obsessive about proper grammar. It’s one of the many reasons I love him.
HA!
(about the grammar thing)
As a follower of Jesus AND a Police Officer I’m amazed at what this professor is saying. He says that if your client is guilty there’s plenty of time to confess to the crime, they don’t have to do it right away???? Or he thinks it’s ok to look for a “better deal” for your client??? I don’t get it. I guess maybe it’s because I’m the one trying to protect innocent people from the criminals that this guy is trying to “get a better deal” for. I guess God is being glorified through this guy??
Well, partly because we serve a God of mercy in addition to justice. And I think what this guy wants is to wait for the trial in a court of law, rather then talking to police in a side room where things might be remembered wrong, or (as he pointed out) a mistaken witness who would be dismissed on their own might catch you in a lie.
I plan to never be in a situation where I need this advice. But I also know that I plan to say nothing to the police either – I’d rather wait for the trial, when things are more out in the open.
couldn’t…stop….watching……weird.
I find it odd (read: annoying) how often he uses the word ‘crucify’.
He makes some good points. I don’t think the ‘take your time, try to cut a deal’ approach is good. It feels a bit counter-intuitive to bringing sin out into the light.
Defence lawyer must be a hard job for a Christian…
JonoC, it’s not a hard job for a Christian at all. In fact, I suspect if Jesus were a lawyer, that’s the kind he’d be. (Maybe I should put that on a bracelet!)
The hallmark of our criminal justice system is that the state MUST prove through LAWFUL means that the accused person committed the crime. The accused person does not have to help them do this; it’s the state’s job.
The important thing to remember is that if the government does not have to prove through lawful means that the guiltiest person on the planet committed the crime . . . they don’t have to prove you did either. The system is to safeguard the rights of the people from being railroaded by a powerful police state. And, if that doesn’t apply to the foulest, most vile offender, then it doesn’t apply to you, the innocent.
Also, as a defense lawyer I have had the opportunity to be a light to a lot of people in a very dark place. Who better than Christians to counsel those who are living in the hell of poor choices and often worse circumstances?
Hi. Interesting discussion.
But I’m curious about how you got the video to start at the relevant point. Do you have to have a YouTube account to do that?
Sorry, utterly mundane question compared to the above comments, but it’s where I’m at this morning.
it just does it for me, and i’m not signed in to youtube. if it doesn’t for you, you could drag the little dot next to the play button at the bottom until you get to 8:20. that’s the spot.