Asking for a lawyer when confronted by LE

[MarkusH]

There is a lot of advice here and on the interwebs that when confronted by law enforcement, to just state your name and ask for a lawyer. I agree that it is very good advice.

I don't have a lot of experience dealing with criminal defense attorneys. The only info I have is second hand. Someone I know needed a criminal defense attorney for some white collar minor issue. All the lawyers that were contacted wanted 10 - 15K retainer for representation. My understanding was that the amount would be used up and needed replenished, even before charges if any, were filed.

Granted, this may not be the norm, so how much money should one keep stashed, should such an eventuality arise. What would it take to call your lawyer.

I presume, it would be too late to be shopping for a lawyer at the time of encounter.

So with these practical matters in mind, how does one prepare for the unfortunate eventuality.

Do any of you have attorneys on retainers for such situations?

[Guest083119]

If you’re really serious about being prepared, contact a lawyer with your specific legal worries and place him/her on retainer, if it’s hobby related it will be far less than 10k. Ask for the procedure to contact if arrested (usually it’s best to memorize the phone number of a bail bond agency that the lawyer suggests. They should accept collect calls 24/7. Also memorize the attorney’s number and put both numbers discreetly in your phone.

It’s always good to be prepared and keep your mouth shut, but even better to avoid contact with LE at all. Only visit with nice reputable ladies, pay for their time, have fun, if you want to have sexy talk at this point, cool...finish up and go home.

Don’t drink to excess, if they ask you to bring condoms, cease communication, and don’t carry a weapon to an incall.

[Gabrielle]

Don't talk to cops video.

This was the best, free, 45 minutes of my biz planning.

A lawyer and a cop tell you why NOT to talk to the cops.

[MarkusH]

Originally Posted by Gabrielle

Don't talk to cops video.

This was the best, free, 45 minutes of my biz planning.

A lawyer and a cop tell you why NOT to talk to the cops.

Most of us know the what and why in the advise given. My question is on how to implement the advise.

You decide to ask for an attorney, now what? Who do you call? Would they agree to represent you? How do you make payment arrangements?

This sort of stuff needs to be pre planned. I don't think you are entitled to a free attorney at point in the process.

[Guest083119]

If you don’t have someone on retainer, the first step is to get out of jail. Memorize a bail bondsman’s number. Many have one that is easy to remember like 555-777-BAIL etc.

[Unique_Carpenter]

Come on guys, listen to our cookie baker.

I'd bet you all actually know an attorney. All you need is one that will commit to answering your after hours phone call. And then that atty can refer the case to one of his buddies that specializes in whatever the situation is.

My handheld had several. But I drink with them. And amusingly for this thread, have never had to call any for the stuff you guys worry about.

[strawberry skye]

Originally Posted by MarkusH

Do any of you have attorneys on retainers for such situations?

Great thread :-)
Yes. I have an attorney on retainer that knows my situation, the legalities which could arise and has been retained with enough money post a misdemeanor bond (Class A) and begin representation on defense of such. If the unthinkable were to occur, and i were to be faced with fighting anything felonious, he would want a substantial amount more to move a muscle.

[Guest083119]

Originally Posted by Unique_Carpenter

Come on guys, listen to our cookie baker.

I'd bet you all actually know an attorney. All you need is one that will commit to answering your after hours phone call. And then that atty can refer the case to one of his buddies that specializes in whatever the situation is.

My handheld had several. But I drink with them. And amusingly for this thread, have never had to call any for the stuff you guys worry about.

Thanks, UC. Y’all are making this too hard. If you go to Spas, there is a decent chance you may end up there when LE shows up and depending on where you’re at in the session or if it’s a total sting like we had here, you may be taking a ride.

The most important thing is to get out of jail ASAP. It’s bad enough your SO is finding out, but if you don’t show up to work the next day, then you’re fucked, no?

But just do your damned research now and see who is good in your neighborhood. If you’re so inclined, pull up online court records and see who gets good results. It’s your life, it’s worth the trouble...

And Strawberry, I always enjoy your posts and viewpoint.

[strawberry skye]

THANK YOU sexy !I enjoy yours as well!

[MileHighFreak]

https://www.facebook.com/cypresshill...type=2&theater

More good advice here, similar to the other video posted above.... love these guys!! The message is basically the same. Don't talk to the police! Period!

"Am I under arrest", "Am I being detained", "am I free to go".

and if the answer to those is "No".... then you tell them you want to speak to a lawyer, then stop talking! period!!

Give them nothing else!

[JRLawrence]

Originally Posted by MarkusH

Most of us know the what and why in the advise given. My question is on how to implement the advise.

You decide to ask for an attorney, now what? Who do you call? Would they agree to represent you? How do you make payment arrangements?

This sort of stuff needs to be pre planned. I don't think you are entitled to a free attorney at point in the process.

OK: I agree, to a point, about not talking to the police. I have known a lot of cops, and they all have the need to be valued and respected. So, play on that need: be respectful. I remembered that when I was recently stopped for a burned out headlight that I didn't know about. Be Nice! All I got was a warning, after I thanked him for telling me about it. After the warning, I told him how important his job was, and thanked him for his service.

Too many of the recent uTube clips show people being a smart ass when talking to cops: it will get you a ticket every time. Most are just trying to do their job in everyday contact with the public. Most think they are serving the public need and being protective of society.

[trey32]

A civil case I had was $400 hr for a O&G attorney. The 3K retainer naturally went up like smoke. Lawyers aren't cheap and you can believe you need them more than they need you.

[RetiredSubmariner]

I served 6 years as Military Police. I have a bunch of friends who work in Law Enforcement. I was very disgusted by how we were trained to manipulate people into confessing crimes. Detectives have asked me to participate in extremely unethical scenarios to trick people into confessing crimes. I always refused to participate, and it resulted in lower personnel evaluation marks.

I have a lawyer. He is a partner at a big firm. He does not do criminal defense, but he has associates at his firm that would defend me if needed. I keep a couple thousand dollars sitting in that account.

When questioned by LEOs freely ask: "Am I under arrest?", "Am I being detained?", "am I free to go?".

Always be polite and courteous.

But if you volunteer any other information, trying to be helpful, it WILL snare you. If you say anything, you must stick to your original story. Telling them you are driving home, then later saying that you are going to your friend's house, is often enough to trigger LEOs to go into interrogation mode. You are better off to say nothing, in a polite manner.

[straightshooter30]

I just saw a presentation by a very well known 2nd amendment attorney, who said the same thing: "At best talking to LE can only hurt you, it never helps you, why would you take that bet?"



With all due respect officer, I don't answer questions... I know you have a difficult job, etc.


Now if the worst that can happen is a speeding ticket, blown headlight, you haven't been drinking, etc. I certainly will give the officer evidence I'm a good citizen... LOL

[Jannisary]

While the general principle of not talking to police is fine, putting that into practice isn't always the easiest and if done wrong can just cause yourself more problems than if you had just been cooperative.

You have to be able to read the situation and make judgement calls from there on how to respond.

For example, I had a great 2 hour meeting with a favorite lady and took off from the hotel just at dusk. I turned my lights on and headed out and made it to a major street a ways from the hotel when I met a city police car. As he passed he hit his lights and turned around and pulled me over. It turned out I had a headlight out and hadn't noticed. He comes up and gets my license and info and asks some questions. Basically I'm a hick from the sticks of Illinois and he asking what I was doing in his nice upscale St. Louis suburb.

Now I could have followed the no talk principle and maybe he would have let it slide and still just given me a verbal warning about the light. Then again, why should he be cooperative and friendly towards me if I wasn't willing to be cooperative with him? Plus it was a simple headlight issue and him asking pretty much the standard shit. Refusing to answer questions would have just raised his level of interest in me to an entirely new and higher level. Now if he had pulled in behind me right after I left the hotel it would been an entirely different situation warranting a different response but that wasn't the case. So I gave him a simple vague but true response and indicated I had been headed to the mall when he pulled me over and I was soon on my way.

Another similar example from way in my past. I was over in the East St. Louis area misbehaving. I had picked up a girl in East St. Louis, taken her to an hourly motel in a nearby town and then dropped her off and was heading out of town when an officer pulled out of a gas station I passed and pulled me over. I'm a hick from the sticks of rural Illinois and this is a high crime area known for drugs and other stuff so of course after he gets my license he asks what I'm doing in there area.

Obviously I couldn't tell him the truth but if I had clammed up and not answered questions I knew my chances of having more units called including the K9 to check for drugs were high. Again it's a judgement. I knew he wasn't around to see me drop off the girl or see her in my car on the way back to her place. I could't tell him the truth that I had just dropped a girl off after spending 2 hours in a motel getting sweaty with her. Instead I told him a truth. That I liked hitting the strip clubs in the area and was on my way to Washington Park, IL to hit the clubs there and I preferred to take that road than the interstate which can be kinda crazy at that time of day. We chatted a bit more and soon I was on my way with a verbal warning about the taillight.

I'm certain that if I would have gotten an attitude and or refused to talk to the officer he would have called in another unit and gotten a K9 involved if there was one available. It would have just raised things to another level that was not needed or wanted. At that point in time I had all sorts of girls in and out of my car regularly and even though I checked the car after each trip I couldn't absolutely guarantee it was totally "clean". I weighed the situation the best I could and made a judgement call and talked to the officer.

"Never talk to the police" is a principle that can work and if you're rich or daddy has a bunch of money it can probably be followed absolutely all the time but for the rest of us there needs to be some common sense and judgement calls made from time to time.