Don't talk to the police...

"I'd like to tell you what happened but I need to wait to speak to an attorney." ??
No problem with that at all. Usually I would have to remind them more than once to shut up.

You're gonna spend the night in jail whether you talk or not. There is nothing you can say to the officer at the time that will make the issue go away right then and there.
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Is that comment from a personal incident or just off the top of your head. My experience is totally the opposite and I've been involved in more than one. All went home the same night. A blanket statement like that has no validity. There are too many variables to say what is going to happen after a homicide.
 
rscalzo said:
"I'd like to tell you what happened but I need to wait to speak to an attorney." ??
No problem with that at all. Usually I would have to remind them more than once to shut up.



Is that comment from a personal incident or just off the top of your head. My experience is totally the opposite and I've been involved in more than one. All went home the same night. A blanket statement like that has no validity. There are too many variables to say what is going to happen after a homicide.
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In Mass., you are very likely (almost surely) to be either arrested or at the very least take a trip to the police station for questioning.
 
rscalzo:

I'll plead guilty to using a bit of hyperbole. My opinions are based on discussions I've had with local criminal defense attorneys. After a shooting in eastern MA, I would expect to be taken into custody for questioning. I would expect to be arrested. The DA may or may not refer the matter to a grand jury. I might or might not get charged.

But I would plan for the worst and hope for the best.

Last month I attended a seminar put on by Aware. The speakers were:

- Lisa Steele (a MA appellate attorney)
- Kevin Reddington (a prominent MA criminal defense attorney)
- another defense attorney whose name escapes me. He was previously a Suffolk County (that is, Boston) assistant district attorney for 13 years and prosecuted thousands of cases.
- Chief Bert Duvernay

As you might expect, the advice from the four differed somewhat. Lisa Steele recommend that you give the police a limited statement. Chief Duvernay recommend a somewhat expanded statement, but also described the problems with giving a statement at that time. The two defense attorneys advice was the same: "Shut the @#@# up!"

Personally, I would probably say something along the lines of "He was going to kill me/us. I had to stop him. I all answer all your questions, but first I need to speak with my attorney."
 
very least take a trip to the police station for questioning.
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Common sense tells you that the interview will be in a off site setting, most likely recorded. No one is going to clear a homicide at the scene. For the most part, the decision on charges would lie with the Prosecutor's office. If it isn't real cut and dried, I could see that office maybe referring it to the Grand Jury. Only one of ours ever made it to trial and it was a very questionable shooting. One other plead out to a manslaughter charge but the details escapes me as it was many years ago in the mid 70's. Many were DV's involving a murder suicide. One tragic case was a husband shooting his terminally ill wife and them killing himself. She was killed but he lived as a total paraplegic.
 
rscalzo said:
For the most part, the decision on charges would lie with the Prosecutor's office.
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Which in my case is Middlesex County District Attorney's office. The two prior DAs became the former and current Massachusetts attorney general: Tom Reilly and Martha Coakley.

Both are exceedingly anti-gun and anti-self defense and have worked, through their "consumer protection" regulations, to greatly reduce the variety of guns available for purchase here in MA and make it almost impossible for MA gun owners to order reloading supplies. The current Middlesex County DA is Coakley's protege.

Now do you understand where my viewpoint come from?
 
My experience is in NJ. All homicides are investigated by the County Homicide Squad which works out of the counties Prosecutor's Office. The local departments do not file any charges related to a homicide..ever.. This is the procedure for the past 15 years or so in the county which I worked. Homicides were not unusual. You almost had a bakery take a number system at times as they investigated every shooting, fatal or not. In the county, shooting in the home of a unknown actor was rare. Usually it was a person known to the other in the vast majority. That became a problem and required investigation determine the actual facts of the case. No one in my town was ever held during investigation except the last one which involved an indictment prior to the actor's capture out of state.
 
The less info you give, the less you have to explain later, and the less they have to hang you with. People like to give 911 the full story, don't do this. Give them the bare bones, I was attacked, someone has been shot, please send help.

When the cops show up, be coopertive, but give them the bare bones too. You may end up sitting in a cell while your attorney and police go over the details, but atleast you won't have some stupid comment/mis statment hanging over your head in court.

Remember, the police are not there to "help you". They are there to control the situation and gather evidence. You are as much a suspect to them as the guy you shot.
 
In MA, most homicides are investigated by the State Police (Boston is an exception -- they have their own homicide squad). The county government in MA is basically non-existent, and the Sheriff's departments primarily handle the jails and prisoner transport.
 
M1911 said:
In MA, most homicides are investigated by the State Police (Boston is an exception -- they have their own homicide squad). The county government in MA is basically non-existent, and the Sheriff's departments primarily handle the jails and prisoner transport.
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Isn't the Sheriff's Deparments only like that in Worcester County?

I thought Sheriffs for the most part had even more power then State Police?
 
Cherokee_Outlaw said:
Isn't the Sheriff's Deparments only like that in Worcester County?
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I'm sorry, what is it that you are asking? Yes, Worcester County has a Sheriff's Department. So do most (all?) MA counties.
I thought Sheriffs for the most part had even more power then State Police?
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In MA, the Sheriff runs the jail and prisoner transport between the jail and courthouse. They also act as process servers for some civil issues. But that is about it. In general, in MA the Sheriff's Department does not patrol roads or do local law enforcement.

In many states, the Sheriff's Department patrols unincorporated areas and in some small towns without their own police departments. That is not true in MA.
 
Cherokee_Outlaw said:
Isn't the Sheriff's Deparments only like that in Worcester County?

I thought Sheriffs for the most part had even more power then State Police?
Click to expand...

Top ranking police in the state are the Environmental Police.
MSP are the most Visible and the Sheriffs are primarily concerned with the penal system per county.
 
clinotus said:
Top ranking police in the state are the Environmental Police.
MSP are the most Visible and the Sheriffs are primarily concerned with the penal system per county.
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clinotus, I really wish you wouldn't use terms like penal system while you're posting that Clinton avatar!! [rofl]
 
Baystatesuks said:
In Mass., you are very likely (almost surely) to be either arrested or at the very least take a trip to the police station for questioning.
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You will only be arrested if there is probable cause you committed a crime. If someone is lying dead on your living room floor with a knife in his hand and it looked like they had recently come through a broken window, there probably isn't probable cause.

In Massachusetts, you can not be" taken in for questioning." If you are detained, it is an arrest, and the only one that can release you is a judge or clerk of the court.
 
Ninemil said:
And when the police arrive, there's a body on your floor and your loaded gun, missing one or more rounds, sitting on the dresser. At this point you're supposed to say: "I'd like to tell you what happened but I need to wait to speak to an attorney." ??
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Try not to sound too much like a Tony Soprano wannabe. My 911 call would go something like "I need police and an ambulance right away at xxxxxxxxx; there's been a break-in and shooting." At that point, in my highly stressed state, I'd probably drop the phone and be unable to answer any more questions or make any more statements. When the police get there, I'll probably still be too upset to make any statements (beyond that I was in fear of my life and didn't really have any choice), and might even want to get checked out at the hospital myself. If it really was a legitimate self-defense shooting, everything I've told the police so far would be the absolute truth. By the time I've recovered from the trauma sufficiently to make a statement, I'll have counsel with me. There's nothing in my response that should upset any investigators who aren't already looking to nail me. A lot of union contracts don't allow an officer who shoots someone to be questioned for 48 or even 72 hours because of the stupid things they're likely to put on the record under stress.

Ken
 
Somewhere, I heard advice to say, "My heart is pounding, I'm short of breath and my chest hurts - I need a doctor." Maybe you end up with some time in the ER rather than in lock-up, able to calm your mind and wait for your lawyer.
 
MaverickNH said:
Somewhere, I heard advice to say, "My heart is pounding, I'm short of breath and my chest hurts - I need a doctor." Maybe you end up with some time in the ER rather than in lock-up, able to calm your mind and wait for your lawyer.
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That's not bad advice, you will end up cuffed to the bed and guarded by a couple of officers, but that's a better deal than sitting in a cell.
 
davidbruce said:
You will only be arrested if there is probable cause you committed a crime. If someone is lying dead on your living room floor with a knife in his hand and it looked like they had recently come through a broken window, there probably isn't probable cause.

In Massachusetts, you can not be" taken in for questioning." If you are detained, it is an arrest, and the only one that can release you is a judge or clerk of the court.
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Umm, you are clearly not from Mass. if you think the police are going to decide at the scene, "we just don't have probable cause to arrest him. I mean he just shot this guy in the head, but that's not enough right? Oh, let's just leave and go back to Dunkin. I hear Ronnie's is open now in Auburn too."

Self-defense is just that - a defense - not a license or positive right to actually kill someone. Whether you truly had a right to the defense is not going to be decided by the police at the scene. They will err on the side of caution.

Maybe some LEO's would weigh in on this, but it is my opinion, having dealt with many state and federal judges, that no judge would ever say it was improper to arrest or question you after you actually killed someone.
 
Baystatesuks said:
Umm, you are clearly not from Mass. if you think the police are going to decide at the scene, "we just don't have probable cause to arrest him. I mean he just shot this guy in the head, but that's not enough right? Oh, let's just leave and go back to Dunkin. I hear Ronnie's is open now in Auburn too."

Self-defense is just that - a defense - not a license or positive right to actually kill someone. Whether you truly had a right to the defense is not going to be decided by the police at the scene. They will err on the side of caution.

Maybe some LEO's would weigh in on this, but it is my opinion, having dealt with many state and federal judges, that no judge would ever say it was improper to arrest or question you after you actually killed someone.
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as much as I agree that Mass Sucks, Im going with baystate on this one. If someone is lying dead in my house, gun in hand broken window, etc. I do not believe my local pd would have me walking out of there in cuffs. Would they want you to come in for questioning? Sure. But when you tell them your waiting for a lawyer, etc. I dont see them cuffing you and taking you away.

if this guy got off in New Bedford a few years ago...

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070322/NEWS/703220342
 
Video again?

Would someone please re-post a link to this important video? One that works? I've tried it the first day and it worked; now I can't get anything? I'm using Firefox as my browser...could that be the problem? Thank you.
 
Crestliner said:
Would someone please re-post a link to this important video? One that works? I've tried it the first day and it worked; now I can't get anything? I'm using Firefox as my browser...could that be the problem? Thank you.
Click to expand...

First try to open it with IE... If it works... then you need to download the Windows Media 11 Plug in for Firefox before it will work on Firefox...
 

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