Re:Why people confess to crimes they didn’t commit
by jadell on Sunday June 16, 2019 @06:46PM
(#20198448)
It is completely illegal for a police officer to pretend to be an attorney; it's actually illegal for anyone to pretend to be an attorney (in the situation of a suspect asking for an attorney.) The cops can lie to you about a great many things, but they cannot lie to you about the person you are talking with being an attorney. Any judge would probably immediately declare a mistrial if they found out that had happened, and anything you said to the fake attorney would be deemed inadmissible.
Re:Why people confess to crimes they didn’t commit
by dyu on Sunday June 16, 2019 @06:39PM
(#20198421)
I am not well-informed, but according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_warning :
>If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish.
Re:Why people confess to crimes they didn’t commit
by xur17 on Sunday June 16, 2019 @08:04PM
(#20198728)
> If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish.
I've always wondered this - what if I can afford a lawyer, but don't want to burn $500 talking to someone about a traffic citation? Do I then have to pay, and if so, what constitutes "cannot afford"?
Re:Why people confess to crimes they didn’t commit
by klyrs on Sunday June 16, 2019 @08:05PM
(#20198736)
>If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish.
Public defenders are notoriously overworked, and are often only allowed a few minutes per case. This is one of many aspects of the justice system that is completely eroded and disproportionately fails the poor.
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/this-public-defender-...
Re:Why people confess to crimes they didn’t commit
by gamblor956 on Monday June 17, 2019 @10:53AM
(#20203571)
When I worked as a public defender (in CA) we were winning roughly 2/3rds of our cases...the same as the private defense bar managed.. and securing much better plea deals than private counsel could, since the DAs were more inclined to negotiate with people they had to see every day.
Re:Why people confess to crimes they didn’t commit
by irscott on Sunday June 16, 2019 @10:17PM
(#20199278)
The police must stop questioning you. Then they take you to jail until your public defender has time to see you. The courts automatically will assign a public defender to your case if you do not have one or cannot afford one.
I want to know (from anyone who is well-informed) how exactly this works out for the poor and middle class. In the movies they say "I want to speak to my attorney", but 90% of the population don't have a "my attorney", so if you just demand an attorney, what happens next? Do they hand you a phone book, and you have to thumb through to the lawyer section of the yellow pages? If you just demand (generic) "an attorney", do they have one on staff they can give you, or fetch one from a nearby court? What's the process like? Do you have a right to a free attorney when you're making a statement to the police, or only in court?
And is it legal for a police officer to pretend to be an attorney? (Seen this in several movies.) Is stuff you say to an officer pretending to be an attorney admissible in court?
Basically, the problem gets more complicated for anyone who doesn't retain an attorney, and much more complicated for anyone who can't afford one. How does it work exactly?