3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Confess To A Crime

On the face of it, “don’t confess to a crime” is so obvious it barely qualifies as advice. But if you suddenly find yourself facing criminal charges, the police will likely exert tremendous pressure on you to confess, whether you’re actually guilty or not.

When you’re in police custody, always remember that the police are not your friends. They may say that the prosecutor will go easy on you if you confess, or that you can get a reduced sentence. They may try strong-arm tactics like telling you they already have all the evidence they need to lock you away for years.

In short, the police will say anything they can think of (including flat-out lying to you) to coerce a confession out of you. But no matter what, you should never confess to a crime while in police custody.

Here are the three most important reasons why:
 

1) Confessing May Waive Your Miranda Rights

Once an officer has read you your Miranda Rights, whatever you say will be noted and can be used against you. This is why it is absolutely critical for you to properly exercise your right to remain silent.

The police may try and convince you to waive your rights by signing a waiver. But even if you don’t explicitly waive your Miranda Rights, if you keep talking you may waive them by your action. The police know that people under arrest often feel scared, confused, and vulnerable. They use that situation to try and manipulate you into confessing and/or waiving your rights.

2) The Police Might Be Lying To You

It’s important to understand that the police are under no obligation to tell you the truth when they’ve taken you into custody. They may tell you that they have all kinds of evidence against you, and that if you confess you’ll be better off. Don’t believe a word of it.

The best thing you can do is let your attorney assess what evidence the police have and then give you a recommendation of whether or not you should confess and plead guilty, or plead innocent and potentially go to trial.
 

3) Confessing Limits Your Defense Options

Anything you admit or confess to the police limits your attorney’s options for defending you. For example, if you admit to being at the scene of a crime at the time it was committed, your attorney can’t argue that you weren’t there.

If the police don’t have any evidence of your presence at the scene except your own admission, then you’ve removed a possible avenue of defense for your attorney.
 

Let Your Lawyer Do The Talking

It’s always best to leave talking to police and prosecutors to your attorney rather than trying to explain things yourself. Confessing to any crime, no matter how small, may have unintended consequences that you can’t foresee.

At Quinnan Law, we have extensive experience helping defend clients who have already spoken to, or confessed to, the police. Confessing doesn’t mean you’ll automatically be convicted, so it’s important to speak to an attorney as soon as possible.

For a free consultation, please call our office today.