What To Do If You Are Accused

What To Do If You Are Accused Or
Are Being Investigated For A Crime
Very often before formal charges are filed against a defendant there is the investigation stage of the case. This is the stage where law enforcement tries to gather as much evidence as they can to build their case against a suspect. At this point a suspect is either investigated or scrutinized by law enforcement or in some cases employers (in embezzlement cases) or even family members (in sexual assault cases). We refer to this as the pre-file phase of the case. Pre-file can be defined as the investigation stage of the case prior to charges being filed against a suspect/defendant.
The Pre-file Stage of a Criminal Case
The Pre-file stage of a case in many instances can be considered one of the most crucial stages of a criminal case. As a suspect in a pre-file case you are under investigation and have not yet been arrested, therefore you do not have any formal Miranda Rights. In essence, you don't have the constitutional right to remain silent, the right to an attorney, and anything you say or do can and often is used against you. REMEMBER THE FIRST WORDS IN THE MIRANDA RIGHTS ARE, "YOU'RE UNDER ARREST".
Contact/Investigation by Law Enforcement
Very often law enforcement likes to take advantage of this time period to call in a suspect to discuss their side of the case. Many people naturally fall into the trap of trying to zealously maintain their innocence. In doing so, a suspect will run to the local investigator without realizing they are running headlong into an ambush. Police investigators don't make points by exonerating suspects. Very often law enforcement believes you are guilty before you even walk into their offices. If they didn't truly believe that they were going to, "get the bad guy", they wouldn't take the time to talk to you. What the investigator is trying to do is to elicit a confession, or at least get as much information from the suspect without the restrictions imposed by Miranda. Law enforcement is actually using the suspect in this situation to assist them in building their case against that same suspect.
It is imperative that you as a suspect and a potential defendant don't fall into this trap. If you are contacted by law enforcement to discuss allegations of criminal activity then you must contact a competent criminal defense attorney to accompany you to any meetings or discussion regarding the investigation. A competent attorney will be aware of your rights and will ensure that you don't do anything that will prejudice or hurt your case. Very often an attorney can even prevent charges from being filed. Our Law firm has been very successful in representing clients at this pre-file stage, and we have been very successful in getting the case closed before charges are even filed! If nothing else we can ensure that a client isn't forced into a full confession or manipulated into violating his own 5th Amendment right not to incriminate himself.

Investigation by those other than Law Enforcement
It is important for anyone that has been accused of a crime to realize that they do have certain constitutional rights. However, those rights and protections only apply to government. For example you have a 5th Amendment right not incriminate yourself to the government. You have a 4th amendment right not to be illegally searched by the government.
What if you are being questioned or accused of a crime by a non-government entity? What if your boss calls you into his office to discuss an allegation of theft or embezzlement from the company? What if your brother-in-law wants to talk to you about an allegation that your niece made saying that you touched her inappropriately. Simply put, none of the constitutional protections apply in this situation, because non-government parties are investigating you. The fact is private citizens can question you, investigate you and scrutinize you, and anything you say or do can and will be used against you. Quite often the reason these people are questioning you is because they already believe you are guilty and they are trying to elicit a confession.

Here again it is important in these situations that you speak an attorney who can be hired to intervene on your behalf. Our firm has been very successful in mediating these cases and resolving the conflict very often leading to a result where no charges are filed and law enforcement never even becomes involved. In other cases we can ensure that you as a suspect don't say or do anything that will lead to charges being filed as well as providing damaging evidence.

After reading this you probably realize how critical this stage of a criminal proceeding can be. If you have more questions, please contact us at The Chase Law Group.

http://www.criminaldefense.com
1-800-208-8200