How to Talk to the Police if Your Suspected of a CrimeWritten by Susan Chana Lask, Esq.
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When you arrive at police precinct , police should have you sign a paper with your legal rights listed on it. They should have you read your rights while they read it to you, and then have you initial each right and sign paper at bottom with time and date. This paper is a good thing for police to prove they followed procedure and it will coordinate time of your arrest closely with time of reading your rights. It is not mandatory that they give you this paper with your rights, because they can by law verbally read you your rights and note in their notebook time they read you your rights. Of course, they could never read you your rights and later say they did. Hiring An Attorney If a detective is hounding you with phone messages and coming by your house leaving cards with your roommate or family, immediately get an attorney. An attorney can determine if police are going to arrest you. If you are going to be arrested then your attorney will advise you what to do (and what to say or not say), explain arrest process, arrange for you to turn yourself in and get you through process quicker. Also, police will know they can’t interrogate you if you’re represented by counsel. A good attorney will fax a letter of representation to precinct and follow you through arrest process by calling proper offices and getting you to arraignment and out quicker. Your attorney should also fax a notice of appearance on your behalf to Arraignment Clerk’s Office minute he or she discovers you’ve been “docketed” by District Attorney’s office (meaning they’ve drafted and filed a Criminal Complaint against you and assigned a docket number to your case so it can be heard by court). If you do not voluntarily turn yourself in then police will remember you made it harder for them to arrest you and they may purposely delay your arrest process and make you sit for three days in jail before you see a judge. They’ll delay filling out your paperwork and sending it to proper offices. They may even lose your paperwork. The last thing you want to do is spend a minute longer being arrested and in jail so here's a valuable tip: don’t turn yourself in or get arrested at night or on a weekend because there are less people working those shifts and courts close certain hours, so process can take three days or sometimes longer. This article is certainly not all inclusive and is intended only as a brief explanation of legal issue presented. Not all cases are alike and it is strongly recommended that you consult an attorney if you have any questions with respect to any legal matters.Any questions and/or comments with respect to this topic or any other topic, please call or write: www.appellate-brief.com Law Offices of Susan Chana Lask 853 Broadway, Suite 1516 New York, NY 10003 (212) 358-5762 ©2004 Susan Chana Lask All Rights Reserved
Susan Chana Lask is a New York attorney with law offices in New York City. She has over 20 years experience and practices in State, Federal and Appellate Courts nationwide, handling civil, criminal and commercial litigation and appeals. She represents high profile cases and appears on all major television, print and radio news media, earning the title "High-Powered" New York attorney. She can be reached at www.appellate-brief.com
| | The Arrest Process in New YorkWritten by Susan Chana Lask, Esq.
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- Persons to contact - With whom you live - Where you work - Your salary - Your citizenship status - Where you were born This information will later be used by your arraignment judge to determine if bail is required and amount of bail you will pay. If you do not have any contacts in state or locally or you travel alot or are not a citizen of this country then you most likely will have to pay bail because you will be considered a “flight risk”. The best thing you can do is get an attorney to meet you at your arraignment. You can do this at Central Booking, where there are pay phones. Call an attorney, or call your family, friends or anyone else who can get you an attorney that day. That call will be short because there are hundreds of other people waiting to use phone. Just tell whomever you call: - The precinct you came from - Where you are now - The charges against you or what you believe you were arrested for - To get as much cash as possible - To bring proof of home ownershi, like a deed - To contact at least three bail bondsmen from phone book in area you were arrested in (in order to arrange for bail quickly) With your arrest location, precinct information and last name, a good attorney will be able to track you down using special contact numbers to District Attorney’s office and Central Booking (where your arrest number and docket number can be obtained). At some point you and a group of about 10 others from your cell will be brought upstairs. This means District Attorney finished paperwork and assigned a “docket number” to your file so you can be arraigned. If your attorney has been tracking you through system then he or she will know when to start traveling to arraignment court to appear for you so you do not have to wait longer.This article is certainly not all inclusive and is intended only as a brief explanation of legal issue presented. Not all cases are alike and it is strongly recommended that you consult an attorney if you have any questions with respect to any legal matters. Any questions and/or comments with respect to this topic or any other topic, please call or write: www.appellate-brief.com Law Offices of Susan Chana Lask 853 Broadway, Suite 1516 New York, NY 10003 (212) 358-5762 ©2004 Susan Chana Lask All Rights Reserved
Susan Chana Lask is a New York attorney with law offices in New York City. She has over 20 years experience and practices in State, Federal and Appellate Courts nationwide, handling civil, criminal and commercial litigation and appeals. She represents high profile cases and appears on all major television, print and radio news media, earning the title "High-Powered" New York attorney. She can be reached at www.appellate-brief.com
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