POLICE CAUTION: Something you later rely on in Court Theoretically if you do not mention something at the police Station, you could harm yourself regardless of whether you are admitting or denying an offence. This premise of course, only applies if you are going to go to Court. It is sometimes difficult for Clients in person to establish whether the evidence the Police have is sufficient to take your case to Court. That kind of assessment is exactly what we are here for, and of course it must be emphasized that any advice we give at the Police Station is free. If there is insufficient evidence to take you to Court, then it would be foolish to say the least to say anything which helps the Police gather more evidence. If we advise you that there is in our professional view enough evidence to take you to Court, then we will also advise you as to how to deal with the issue of whether you could harm your defence by virtue of the way that you deal with the interview situation. In basic terms (all advice is given differently according to the particular circumstances of your case) you could harm your defence in two ways. If you say nothing at the Police Station and give a full reasoned explanation at Court, then the Court might think this is suspicious and ask themselves is this a story that has been made up since leaving the Police Station or is there another reason for concealing this from the Police at an earlier stage. This, in the absence of a good reason for not giving an explanation in the Police Station may, but does not have to, induce the Court not to believe what you say. The very WORST case scenario is that you say one thing at the Police Station, because for instance, at the time, in ignorance of the true circumstances, you believe what you are saying to be true, and THEN find out that you are not in fact correct, and are forced to defend yourself IN COURT by saying something which is different from, or completely contradicts what you have said at the Police Station. In this situation, whether there is a good explanation or not, the Court WILL brand you a liar, and most certainly the Prosecution WILL dwell and emphasize your inconsistency.
Posted on: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 11:10:54 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015