MS Risk ?
Mar 31, 2016, 6:24 am
#92
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 404
May 6, 2016, 9:57 am
#95
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: Northwest, United
Posts: 3,256
This is generally a good approach. Remain calm, certainly be respectful. But your lawyer should be the first person you have a meaningful conversation with. YMMV.
May 6, 2016, 3:28 pm
#96
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 135
A lawyer wouldn't give that advice. You should only invoke the 5th when you are WITH your lawyer. AND if they are allowed to even ask you questions, such as after you are actually arrested or subpoenaed, and if that should happen ask for your lawyer first, that's all you need to do. Otherwise, be polite and just walk away from wherever you happen to be.
May 20, 2018, 7:14 pm
#98
Join Date: May 2008
Location: PHL (kinda, no airport is really close)
Programs: AA Exp, but not sure for how long. Enterprise Platinum woo-hoo!
Posts: 4,550
I know this is a somewhat older thread... as a legal matter, you rarely need to actually invoke the fifth amendment. You simply decline to answer. And you should never, never, never, never ever speak to law enforcement without a lawyer present. Never. If they tell you they are "just trying to help" they are lying, and they are allowed to lie.
The only time you need to invoke the fifth is if you are under subpoena, and you can't be subpoenaed if you are the defendant or the target of an investigation.
So let's say you saw a murder and the police ask what you saw. You can say "I don't want to answer" not "I take the fifth."
Now, say they subpoena you as a witness, and you were the one who purchased the gun but they haven't figured that out. NOW you can take the fifth. It's possible (here I'm on thin ice in my limited legal knowledge) that the judge may require you to explain privately why, because you can't use the fifth as an excuse to not testify if it's not valid. Or the court could grant you immunity, in which case you could be required to answer or go to jail for contempt of course, but then they can't use what you said against you.
Anyway, just don't talk to LE without a lawyer.
The only time you need to invoke the fifth is if you are under subpoena, and you can't be subpoenaed if you are the defendant or the target of an investigation.
So let's say you saw a murder and the police ask what you saw. You can say "I don't want to answer" not "I take the fifth."
Now, say they subpoena you as a witness, and you were the one who purchased the gun but they haven't figured that out. NOW you can take the fifth. It's possible (here I'm on thin ice in my limited legal knowledge) that the judge may require you to explain privately why, because you can't use the fifth as an excuse to not testify if it's not valid. Or the court could grant you immunity, in which case you could be required to answer or go to jail for contempt of course, but then they can't use what you said against you.
Anyway, just don't talk to LE without a lawyer.
May 20, 2018, 8:51 pm
#99
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,322
... you rarely need to actually invoke the fifth amendment. You simply decline to answer. And you should never, never, never, never ever speak to law enforcement without a lawyer present. Never. If they tell you they are "just trying to help" they are lying, and they are allowed to lie.
... Anyway, just don't talk to LE without a lawyer.
... Anyway, just don't talk to LE without a lawyer.
Jul 9, 2018, 10:36 am
#100
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 350
Your overall conclusion is correct. HOWEVER: If police attempt to question you, you DO have to POSITIVELY INVOKE your right to silence, otherwise your silence can be used against you in court. So says the Supreme Court in a (terrible) 2013 decision, Salinas v. Texas. For more about the case, suggest this article from The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics...lained/314145/