united-states criminal-law police lawyer
Why would you wait for a lawyer before talking with the police if you&#39;re innocent?
<p>Let's say you were arrested and detained for a crime that you didn't commit. The police/detective starts questioning you but before they get anywhere, that old saying of,</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>I want to speak with my lawyer</p>
</blockquote>

<p>pops into your head.</p>

<p>If you've not committed a crime, why wait for a lawyer before answering things like where you were, who you were with, etc? Doesn't that just make you more suspicious?</p>

<p>Invoking your right to counsel may help you avoid making any legally problematic statements to police. You say "if you've not committed a crime"; but what could that mean?</p>

<ul>
<li><p>you aren't aware of having done anything illegal; but there are lots of laws and ignorance of the law is no excuse (a lawyer can provide a second, possibly better informed opinion on whether what you did is illegal)</p></li>
<li><p>you know you did nothing wrong, and you're right - but maybe it looks like you might have done it. Maybe, with just a couple more facts, it looks enough like that to convince exactly 12 specific U.S. citizens that you did it. Maybe those 12 people end up as your jurors. You can be innocent and look guilty enough to convict. Cops are people and jurors are people. They can mean well and get it wrong. and maybe they don't even mean well. In any case your first job is to take care of number one. A lawyer's job is to help you do that.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>If you are confident enough in your knowledge of the law and your awareness of what's going on in your environment and you have really done nothing wrong, there's no harm in talking. Even if you're not so confident, it's probably usually safe if you didn't just knowingly break the law. It's a decision you have to make based on your risk tolerance.</p>

<p>If the machinery of state is turned upon anyone without the resources to make an effective defense, that person can be convicted, innocent or not. Ask Scooter Libby about that.</p>

<p>You may be in a jurisdiction whether the prosecutor is unbalanced and will turn the state on you; innocent or not. Ask the Duke Lacrosse team about that. </p>

<p>If you are arrested, you are already suspicious. </p>

<p>The safe thing is to just get a lawyer.</p>
