In the case known as Norfolk 4, the first person to confess falsely to rape and murder of Michelle Bosco was Danial Williams, 25. His only connection with the crime was that he lived close, and his misfortune that he was fingered by a woman next door. The fact that he wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer didn’t help either.
Like a typical, low-information, trusting, naive and polite dupe, he let the cops push him around for over ten hours and, eventually, into a confession. Before he left, he told his parents he would be right back. That “right back” turned into thirteen years in prison because, being the product of the stupid and polite society, he was unable to say the f-word to a cop in the first ten seconds of the conversation.
You would be wrong thinking that this case is an exception and that the police officers were just rouge cops who would later be punished for breaking the laws themselves. No, they were not rouge and no one was punished because what they did was, and still is, routine and legal.
In spite of the legal safeguards, technology, forensics, and endless appeals, the number of innocent people in prisons is estimated at 40,000 to 100,000. We will never know if that estimate is accurate, but it is a safe bet that the number of people who should not be in prisons is not zero. From your point of view, even if it’s just one, and it’s you, it is one too many.
We are the only country that imposes life-no-parole sentences on nonviolent offenders. Currently, 3,278 people are locked up for life for such offenses like stealing a $159 jacket or serving as a middleman in the sale of $10 of marijuana. So, when you hear how ours is the best justice system in the world, recall these numbers as a proof that it is not and that the person who said it is a chest-thumping moron.
To confess - falsely or not - and end up in a slammer solely on that basis is off the chart stupid because it is one-hundred percent preventable. To make sure that this is not your fate, all you need to do is to learn and never forget this single sentence: I am not talking and I want a lawyer. For all the system's faults, it will work like magic.
Before you have an opportunity to spit that sentence out, there will be a moment when they meet you first. No matter where, when and how the cops approach you, once you realize where they are going with their questions, and that the chat is about you, answer nothing no matter how slick you think you are because at that moment the only thing you will ask is, “Am I under arrest?” They must answer, and if it is a no, say bye and just walk away.
No matter what you hear, don’t fall for the old, worn-out bull**** that people who have nothing to hide hide nothing or that truth will set you free. Tell it to the innocent people who were sentenced to death. Mercifully, many - 142 to be exact - were exonerated while still alive. In some sense, the system works if spending a couple of decades on death row is acceptable to you.
Most people don't realize that we want you to come with us is not an arrest and that you can simply say you would rather stay home and play Nintendo. If you comply without being placed under arrest, you are doing it voluntarily. You are also a super idiot.
Even if you are placed under arrest, the lawyer line will at least end all the interrogations. Having said it, you are going to keep your mouth shut no matter what the cops say from this point on. In one case, they tricked the suspect into a self-incriminating conversation after he said, “I think I should talk to a lawyer.” Later, the judge agreed with the prosecutor that what he said was not equal to I want a lawyer and I am not talking, and made all of his self-incriminating statements admissible at the trial.
If you feel that refusing to talk to the police is rude or wrong, you need to read the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and, while on line, google Miranda. For now, let me assure you that giving up your constitutional rights because you are trying to be polite is no virtue. In fact, it is as stupid as jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge to test the law of gravity.
There are countless cases of innocent people admitting to the most heinous of crimes, including murdering their own parents. They folded because they were tired and scared. A woman falsely admitted murdering her husband thinking that, if she said what the police wanted to hear, “they would leave me alone”. Predictably, they did not.
It may come as a shock to you that the police are allowed to lie and that it is legal. If, as they claim, they found your sperm or blood on the victim, why do they bother talking to you and demand that you confess? With your DNA on the victim or your fingerprints on the murder weapon, it is typically a slam-dunk for the prosecution. They need your confession because there is no DNA or fingerprints, and they are lying that they have it.
When you get a lawyer, remember that your lawyer's office is not a confessional and he is not your priest, so keep your mouth shut and answer only the questions he will ask; if he has any brains, he will never ask if you did it. Remember also that your lawyer is not a truth seeker. His only mission is to defend you as best as he can by challenging the evidence and planting doubts in the minds of the jurors.
Like a typical, low-information, trusting, naive and polite dupe, he let the cops push him around for over ten hours and, eventually, into a confession. Before he left, he told his parents he would be right back. That “right back” turned into thirteen years in prison because, being the product of the stupid and polite society, he was unable to say the f-word to a cop in the first ten seconds of the conversation.
You would be wrong thinking that this case is an exception and that the police officers were just rouge cops who would later be punished for breaking the laws themselves. No, they were not rouge and no one was punished because what they did was, and still is, routine and legal.
In spite of the legal safeguards, technology, forensics, and endless appeals, the number of innocent people in prisons is estimated at 40,000 to 100,000. We will never know if that estimate is accurate, but it is a safe bet that the number of people who should not be in prisons is not zero. From your point of view, even if it’s just one, and it’s you, it is one too many.
We are the only country that imposes life-no-parole sentences on nonviolent offenders. Currently, 3,278 people are locked up for life for such offenses like stealing a $159 jacket or serving as a middleman in the sale of $10 of marijuana. So, when you hear how ours is the best justice system in the world, recall these numbers as a proof that it is not and that the person who said it is a chest-thumping moron.
To confess - falsely or not - and end up in a slammer solely on that basis is off the chart stupid because it is one-hundred percent preventable. To make sure that this is not your fate, all you need to do is to learn and never forget this single sentence: I am not talking and I want a lawyer. For all the system's faults, it will work like magic.
Before you have an opportunity to spit that sentence out, there will be a moment when they meet you first. No matter where, when and how the cops approach you, once you realize where they are going with their questions, and that the chat is about you, answer nothing no matter how slick you think you are because at that moment the only thing you will ask is, “Am I under arrest?” They must answer, and if it is a no, say bye and just walk away.
No matter what you hear, don’t fall for the old, worn-out bull**** that people who have nothing to hide hide nothing or that truth will set you free. Tell it to the innocent people who were sentenced to death. Mercifully, many - 142 to be exact - were exonerated while still alive. In some sense, the system works if spending a couple of decades on death row is acceptable to you.
Most people don't realize that we want you to come with us is not an arrest and that you can simply say you would rather stay home and play Nintendo. If you comply without being placed under arrest, you are doing it voluntarily. You are also a super idiot.
Even if you are placed under arrest, the lawyer line will at least end all the interrogations. Having said it, you are going to keep your mouth shut no matter what the cops say from this point on. In one case, they tricked the suspect into a self-incriminating conversation after he said, “I think I should talk to a lawyer.” Later, the judge agreed with the prosecutor that what he said was not equal to I want a lawyer and I am not talking, and made all of his self-incriminating statements admissible at the trial.
If you feel that refusing to talk to the police is rude or wrong, you need to read the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and, while on line, google Miranda. For now, let me assure you that giving up your constitutional rights because you are trying to be polite is no virtue. In fact, it is as stupid as jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge to test the law of gravity.
There are countless cases of innocent people admitting to the most heinous of crimes, including murdering their own parents. They folded because they were tired and scared. A woman falsely admitted murdering her husband thinking that, if she said what the police wanted to hear, “they would leave me alone”. Predictably, they did not.
It may come as a shock to you that the police are allowed to lie and that it is legal. If, as they claim, they found your sperm or blood on the victim, why do they bother talking to you and demand that you confess? With your DNA on the victim or your fingerprints on the murder weapon, it is typically a slam-dunk for the prosecution. They need your confession because there is no DNA or fingerprints, and they are lying that they have it.
When you get a lawyer, remember that your lawyer's office is not a confessional and he is not your priest, so keep your mouth shut and answer only the questions he will ask; if he has any brains, he will never ask if you did it. Remember also that your lawyer is not a truth seeker. His only mission is to defend you as best as he can by challenging the evidence and planting doubts in the minds of the jurors.
