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Avoiding Self-Incrimination After a Drug or Alcohol Arrest

Avoiding Self-Incrimination After a Drug or Alcohol Arrest

Avoiding Self-Incrimination After a Drug or Alcohol Arrest

After you have been arrested on drug or alcohol-related charges, you must take care to avoid self-incrimination. Ideally you should talk to a lawyer about your rights as soon as possible after arrest. In reality, it may be days or weeks until you can secure representation. In the meantime, here are some tips.

Oversharing Is Bad for Your Case

When all your friends and family communicate using social media, your first instinct may be to post about your arrest or message everyone for advice. Avoid doing this at all costs. The prosecutor can and often will find out about your social media usage, and he or she will use it against you. In recent cases across the country, people have been arrested and even convicted of crimes because they admitted to them on social media. Don’t let that be you.

Also, be careful which friends and family you speak to and which information about your case you share. Some conversations are protected from disclosure in court – such as those with your wife or husband, with your doctor, and with your lawyer. But if you admit that you had 5 drinks before getting in the car to your best friend, the prosecutor could order her to appear in court and testify against you.

Be Careful What You Say to the Police

You do not have to answer the police’s questions just because they ask. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution protects you, giving you the right to remain silent and avoid self-incrimination. Police often try to trip up suspects by getting them to contradict themselves, telling them something that isn’t true, or questioning them for hours on end. Make sure you request a lawyer if you are in police custody, and be careful what you say.

Follow Legal Advice

Follow your lawyer’s instructions when you discuss appearing in court, testifying, and more. For example, you may discuss which topics your lawyer intends to cover when you testify, and if there are topics to which you will plead the Fifth when questioned by the district attorney. When you get to court, stick to the game plan and take your lawyer’s lead. Do not speak out of turn, chat with witnesses, or do anything else that could inadvertently disclose information that could hurt your case.

Self-incrimination comes up fairly often in criminal cases, so take precautions to avoid it by not oversharing, being careful what you say and who you say it to, and following legal advice.

If you need representation in an Oklahoma court for a DUI or drug charge, seek out the attorney who teaches other attorneys and law enforcement about sobriety testing techniques. Clint Patterson, Esq., of Patterson Law Firm, is a former Tulsa prosecutor now using his trial experience and expert-level knowledge of DUI science to defend Oklahomans. To schedule a case evaluation, visit Patterson Law Firm online or call Clint’s office at (918) 550-9175.