Q: Do I need a lawyer with me if the police want to question me about a crime

A: Would you need a doctor to perform surgery?

A: Absolutely. If you are suspected of any crime, then it is always better to have counsel.

First, you are under no obligation to speak with the police. If they want to talk with you about a crime, chances are they don’t have enough evidence to charge you. Yet. Because if they did have enough evidence, then they would get a warrant and arrest you.

Second, you can rarely, if ever, talk yourself out of an arrest, but you can certainly talk yourself into one!

A: Unless you are absolutely sure they are not there to investigate YOU as the perpetrator, then YES, YOU NEED A LAWYER. The lawyer can help you understand how police conduct investigations, the terminology they may use, and how various answers might be interpreted.

A: I recommend you hire an attorney to represent you in the investigative phase. Although you have a constitutional right to refuse to speak to law enforcement, they many times take a refusal to talk as some indicia of guilt. If they are trying to contact you I usually recommend that a client call the officer and tell them that they have nothing to hide and would be glad to make a statement. I then have them refer the officer to the attorney to "set it up." Most of the time I never get a call from the police. If I do and I decide not to have my client make a statement, I take the blame rather than my client. This decision is very fact specific and there are some cases where you just cannot make a statement, but I would never recommend making any statement without a lawyer - other than to refer them to your lawyer. In addition to the above, it is important to have a lawyer as a witness if they make you any promises in exchange for your statement. Hire a lawyer!