How can you tell if someone is lying?

Re:How can you tell if someone is lying? by mewpmewp2 on Sunday March 28, 2021 @06:54AM (#26609312)

I had few issues with that video while it was extremely entertaining and captivating. Yes, there are innocent people getting a guilty verdict. But the actual question is, statistically how often? It's easy to cherrypick few examples, because law of large numbers means that if there's 0.0001% chance of getting wrongfully prosecuted if you talk as an innocent person, there's bound to be some famous examples.

But maybe in 99.99% cases speaking the truth and co-operating quickly will spare you many months of stress and time.

All I'm saying is, that from the video alone it is not clear to me what the risk/reward here is and of course it is situation dependant.

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Re:How can you tell if someone is lying? by Sebb767 on Sunday March 28, 2021 @07:58AM (#26609583)

He talks about this at ~9 minutes. Even if you said something good for your case, it won't be heard in court because its hearsay. And if you're in a spot when the police wants to interview you, the decision for your arrest was already made; you can only make the situation worse.

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Re:How can you tell if someone is lying? by treis on Sunday March 28, 2021 @10:43AM (#26610770)

>when the police wants to interview you, the decision for your arrest was already made;

That's not true. The police will interview everyone connected to a crime. Like if your SO turns up dead you're going to be one of the first people the police talk to. Depending on what else they've found they will have varying levels of suspicion. That level will absolutely change on how you do in that interview or if you refuse to talk.

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Re:How can you tell if someone is lying? by tehwebguy on Sunday March 28, 2021 @11:01AM (#26610906)

Fine, but the police level of suspicion is not relevant.

Never, ever agree to be interviewed by police without your attorney. There is no reason not to have someone who knows the game play for you. You have no clue what the police know or think they know already and your innocuous answer about something that seems unrelated may seem to confirm some wrong information they already have.

Again, your word cannot exonerate you but it can absolutely get you charged or even convicted.

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Re:How can you tell if someone is lying? by treis on Sunday March 28, 2021 @11:24AM (#26611122)

>Fine, but the police level of suspicion is not relevant.

Of course it is. The police aren't the sole decision maker in the process, but as a rule if they don't think you did it you won't get arrested. Conversely if they think they can prove you did it you probably will end up getting arrested.

>Again, your word cannot exonerate you but it can absolutely get you charged or even convicted.

Sure it can. Juries and the police are fallible and can be swayed by a convincing performance. Jeffrey Dahmer, as an infamous example, managed to get the police to return one of his drugged victims by convincing them he was drunk and it was a lovers quarrel.

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Re:How can you tell if someone is lying? by tehwebguy on Sunday March 28, 2021 @12:19PM (#26611552)

Extremely wrong. If you don’t agree to speak with police you will always have an opportunity to clear your name in the future, through an attorney who knows the game either before or during court. Every shred of information you share with them is ammunition and, again, you have no clue how they will use it, what it may appear to confirm or even what crimes they are actually investigating.

Every assertion you make to police opens you up to being prosecuted for completely separate crimes, including lying to the police, depending on what other information they already have (correct or incorrect).

Take the advice that every cop, every attorney takes and also gives to their kids: don’t talk to the police. Just get an attorney.

(A wild scenario of police catching someone in the act of a crime is not only not what we are talking about, but that individual was not exonerated.)

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Re:How can you tell if someone is lying? by leetcrew on Sunday March 28, 2021 @10:31AM (#26610687)

if there's enough evidence to justify an arrest, you're not going to talk your way out of it. even if you're innocent, it's much more likely you say something that makes the officer decide to arrest you.

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