In the following post, it may seem to you that I do not want this guy to be punished or go to jail. That is absolutely untrue. He deserves to go to jail and be punished for what he did. In the following post, I want to make a general case - not about this guy specifically.
But, can anyone please tell me why it is that so many people wind up in jail as a result of stuff that comes out of their own stupid mouths? I just cringe at the thought of anyone here ever spending time in jail because of stuff they tell the police or prosecutors voluntarily. If you are ever questioned or arrested, please remember there are only three things that you ever need to tell the police.
1) your name -- 2) your address -- 3) your birth date
In this case, the following excerpt really grabbed my attention: "The prosecutor’s office said Deutsch told detectives he was tired and the baby was crying, so he put her in the freezer and closed the door, according to KING5."
What are the odds that he would have been charged or wound up in jail had he just never said that? I'm guessing that in most cases, people will spend much less time in jail if they just keep their mouths shut until they speak with a lawyer (and that means a good lawyer and not a public defender).
I just can't understand why this happens so often. Why don't people ever seem to learn to keep their mouths shut until they talk with a lawyer? If they just declined to talk to the police until their lawyer is present, wouldn't they wind up doing much less jail time?
In this case, all that Deutsch had to say was, "I need to have my lawyer present during questioning and so I cannot talk with you at all until my lawyer is present."
One other item that really puzzles me is when the police read the Miranda rights to people and then ask them if they understand those rights, why does everyone reply, "Yes I understand" when it is so easy to reply, "No I don't understand."
And if you tell the police that you don't understand, what do you think will happen? Do you think they will give you a beating? I don't think so. They will probably get flustered and ask you, "What parts don't you understand?" In that case you can always say, "I don't understand the legal parts". If they aren't lawyers, they are not gonna be able to explain that to you.
Anytime you are ever arrested or questioned by the police, things will go so much better if you are polite but never tell them anything or answer any of their questions. Before you answer any of their questions, you need to have a lawyer present to advise you. So simple, and yet, that will save you untold suffering and money too.
Just be polite and remember that all you have to tell them is your name, address and birth date. It never, ever, ever goes better for you if you tell them anything else. It always, always, goes worse for you if you do.
Please understand that I have no sympathy for this guy and do not want to see him get off for what he did. But there is just never any reason to spend time in jail unnecessarily. There is never any need for you to send yourself to jail as a result of stuff that you tell the police willingly and voluntarily.
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There are some exceptions. For example, if they arrest you and your stove has been left on and you think it might start a fire, you need to tell them that to prevent that fire from starting.
(This post was last modified: 07-04-2013, 07:05 AM by
AliShibaz.)
