Contacting a Criminal Attorney in Ocean City

Asking to speak to an Ocean City criminal defense attorney is an important step in protecting your rights, and it does not imply that you are guilty at all. The fact that the person asks to speak to an attorney, whether your case was tried in front of a jury or was tried in front of a judge, cannot even be mentioned at a trial, so it in no way implies guilt.

More importantly, anything a person says to the police can be used against them and therefore it is very important to speak with an attorney before saying anything. I have represented so many people who believed that it was in their best interest to talk to the police because they believed they could explain what happened. The reality is they didn’t even know that they were implicating themselves in a crime, due to their ignorance of the law.

Contacting an Attorney in Ocean City

Typically the person will be given an opportunity to speak with an attorney when they’re taken back to the Public Safety Complex in Ocean City. There are phones available and they can ask to speak with an attorney any time. But the opportunity to actually contact an attorney would take place typically when they’re at the Public Safety Building.
It is important to contact a lawyer as soon as possible because there are rights that are in effect from the time that you are being contacted by law enforcement. That law enforcement officer is focused on gathering evidence and bringing charges. That officer is going to attempt to get a statement and seize physical evidence. A client may not understand all of the consequences of speaking with a law enforcement officer. They may not realize the rights that they have, such as:

• The right to remain silent
• Or the right to refuse to consent to a search

The importance of speaking with an attorney to find out what their rights are and what the consequences could be of their interaction with law enforcement can’t be emphasized enough.

Things to Know When Being Questioned By Police

The most important thing for them to know is that anything that they say is going to be used against them at trial and that in itself should be a reason to not speak with a police officer. The accused individual needs to understand that they have a right to have an attorney with them. They could make a decision to speak with the police and an attorney might advise them to do that but only if the attorney is present and can give the person advice on a question by question basis about whether or not they should be answering that question realizing what the officer is doing.
By the time police officers are wanting to interview a person, they’re not doing so blindly; they’re doing so because they have made the determination that this person is somehow involved in a crime. The officer is not on some broad fact finding mission. Instead, the officer is going to be asking the person questions to basically corroborate what that officer’s belief is. Interviews with law enforcement can be incredibly damaging for a person and they should not interact with the police unless they have an attorney with them or they’ve had an opportunity to speak with an attorney before making a decision to agree to an interview.