San Diego Criminal Lawyers Blog
Imagine that you are about to sit down with your family for dinner, and somebody knocks on the door. It is the police, and they were hoping you would go down to the station to “answer” some questions about a homicide next door. You think nothing of it, because you are just trying to be a good member of the community by giving as much information as you can, as to any noise or suspicious activity you may have seen. Scenarios like this play out daily. Sometimes there is a genuine need for help in a case, and sometimes it is a ploy to coerce a confession. Police often ask people for voluntary statements for various matters- sometimes one is a “person of interest” in a crime, or simply an eyewitness to an event or a crime.
In the case of ‘persons of interest,’ one should never voluntarily go down to the police station, because anything you say may be used against you, or to charge you. While you may think that because you are innocent and that you should go down to the station to ‘clear your name,’ keep in mind that the reason police ask persons of interests or people they suspect to voluntarily go to the station is because they do not have enough information to arrest them, take them into custody, or to charge them, and they are trying to get more information in order to do so. In order for the police to charge you with a crime, they must have probable cause, which is defined as the reasonable belief based on the facts articulated, that you have committed the crime. Do not give them this probable cause. If you are requested to go down to the station, respectfully decline and inform them that you want to speak to an attorney first.