Dealing with Montgomery County Investigations

Montgomery County law enforcement officials are persistent and thorough when it comes to conducting investigations into a potential criminal case. They take their job seriously and work diligently to find proof that will demonstrate a person’s innocence. Regardless of a person’s guilt or their potential involvement in a crime, it is always best to speak with an experienced Montgomery County criminal lawyer to help you protect your rights in the face of aggressive law enforcement investigators.

Information Government Can Access

They will be able to access witnesses who might be willing to speak to them about criminal acts. They can access a great deal of personal information about the defendant with social media and other public records being readily available. The investigation will likely yield a great deal of information about the person being investigated, the people whom they are with, where they are employed and things of that nature. In addition, they will be able to access physical evidence of criminal acts such as fingerprints, ballistics, blood stains, and so forth.
While conducting their searches and investigations, it is also possible that law enforcement officials will ask people questions. Their hope is to catch people off-guard and say something that could be incriminating, without their lawyer there to help them.

Limiting Government Access

Sometimes there is a methodology to limit their access to this information, but often police officers will get warrants to search somebody’s home during the course of an investigation. That is one of the most common evidence-gathering tools that they will use. However, there are ways a criminal defense lawyer in Montgomery County can limit the reach of such a warrant or to potentially quash the warrant entirely if it is improperly obtained.

When Police Want to Speak With You

Usually, a person should ask law enforcement officials if they have a warrant or not, and if the answer is that they do not, then you should tell them that you do not want to have your home searched or your premises searched unless they have a warrant. Sometimes they can ask you to wait there until they go and get a warrant, but that might give you enough time to contact your Montgomery County criminal attorney and let your attorney know what is going on so that he can make sure to be present. If they do come back with a valid warrant, make sure that warrant is in fact valid, properly obtained and not obtained on false pretenses.
People think that they should tell officers everything and show that they have nothing to hide, but often an individual is not exactly sure what the officers are looking for when they come to their premises with or without a search warrant. The general rule is to exercise your right under the Fourth Amendment to not consent to a search procedure. It is important that you exercise that right and contact an attorney.

If Asked to Go to Police Station

Should local law enforcement officials ask you to go with them to the station for further questioning, it is in your interest to refuse until you can talk to your Montgomery County criminal attorney, because you do not know what information the police are actually seeking. Frequently when police officers ask you to come to the station to make a statement, they are doing it because they do not have the information that they need yet. They are trying to make their case more solid by getting you to make a confession or an admission of some kind. That kind of confession or admission may be something that you do not even realize that you are doing, suddenly you have created a big problem for yourself and made the case for the government much stronger.
Another circumstance that defendants find themselves in is making statements that are untrue and that have absolutely nothing to do with the crime during a police interview. Then suddenly the officer catches them in that lie and it taints everything else that was previously stated and truthful. Therefore, it is important as a general rule to remain silent unless you have an attorney with you who advises you of your rights and what is and is not appropriate to say in those kinds of situations.

How Law Enforcement Monitors Online Activity

Most of the times online areas which they can monitor are those that are public. For example, they should not be able to monitor your email and look into your inbox unless they have a warrant to search that particular location. However, if they are searching for other information in more public forums, they are allowed to monitor those forums because you do not have an expectation of privacy when you are in a public part of the internet or public areas where you have online access.

Protecting Your Rights While in Jail

If you are in jail there is nothing that you can do from jail to stop somebody from entering your house. The only thing you can ultimately do is challenge the validity of the search of your home. If it was searched without the officer having proper authority to do so, without a valid warrant on the officer’s part, those will be the kinds of things a criminal defense lawyer will want to raise as a potential basis for challenging whatever search was conducted of your premises.
Even if you are in jail, your lawyer may be able to help you protect your right against unreasonable searches by dealing with law enforcement on your behalf. Retain a Montgomery County criminal defense attorney early to give yourself a good chance of avoiding issues with searches should you be placed in jail.