1 August 2008, 12:44 in

James Duane: Don't Talk to the Police

James Duane, a US law professor, explains why innocent people should never talk to the police. The video goes for 28 minutes.

Duane recommends that lawyers always advise their clients are always advised to exercise their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. He cites the following main reasons:

  1. There is no way it can help.
  2. If your client is guilty – and even if he is innocent – he may admit his guilt with no benefit in return.
  3. Even if your client is innocent and denies his guilt and mostly tells the truth, he can easily get carried away and tell some little lie or make some little mistake that will hang him.
  4. Even if your client is innocent and only tell the truth, he will always give the police some information that can be used to help convict.
  5. Even if your client is innocent and only tells the truth and does not tell the police anything incriminating, there is still a grave chance that his answers can be used to crucify him if the police don’t recall his testimony with 100% accuracy.
  6. Even if your client is innocent and only tells the truth and does not tell the police anything incriminating, and his statement is videotaped, his answers can be used to crucify him if the police don’t recall the questions with 100% accuracy.
  7. Even if your client is innocent and only tells the truth and does not tell the police anything incriminating, and the entire interview is videotaped, his answers can be used to crucify him if the police have any evidence, even mistaken or unreliable evidence, that any of his statements are false.

This applies to US law but is still interesting nonetheless. I wonder if the same logic applies here in Australia?

  1. You should have used the longer version which included the “rebuttal” by a police officer from the Virginia Beach Police Department, who basically said that everything the lawyer said was true, and he gave examples of how he would get people to confess.

    If there is a right not to talk to the police in Australia, I would recommend using it for the same reason he mentioned in the video.


    — Paul Robinson    Jul 7, 07:51 pm    #
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