Also, in many jurisdictions, you have to fill out a financial form for them to "determine" if you could afford an attorney on your on. If they decide that you can, regardless of your true finances, they can decline to provide a court-appointed attorney to you.
This is pretty easy to defend as the burden of proof is entirely on the FBI.
>At which point, the FBI wouldn't pull this shit anyway.
Exactly. However, everyone here seems to be quite worked up over these synthetic hypotheticals.
So you have a habit of recording all your conversations with full knowledge of the legal notification laws?
That is what "incontrovertible" evidence would require.
Fyi, its not a synthetic hypothetical. I debated explaining but honestly, I don't really expect you to believe me and I don't care at this point.
> This is pretty easy to defend as the burden of proof is entirely on the FBI.
In theory, yes. However, 5 figures in legal bills are the end result unless you have a literal recording of the conversation whose authenticity can't be questioned.
You'd need to record it on a machine of some kind. Which has legal consequences, notification requirements, etc.
But, if you think that is how it works, good luck.
1) You still have to pay for one.
2) If you are not a suspect, you don't get the right to an attorney in the way you imply which leaves you with no reliable, neutral witness to call upon.
> Also: how does the advice "Don't lie" to the FBI get downmodded?
Because its an open secret that the FBI isn't above twisting arms and bending rules to win their cases.
One way to do that is to force you to defend yourself in court against a lie accusation which costs you 5 figures or rely on an overworked public defense attorney which is unlikely to have more than a couple hours on your case.
Yeah. I don't think you have any practical experience in the way the system works. You don't want a public defender unless you have 100% incontrovertible proof you are innocent. At which point, the FBI wouldn't pull this shit anyway.