Open Mouth, Catch a Charge

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you.”

We all know these words from the Miranda warning, yet millions of people try to talk their way out of a case and talk their way into a charge instead.

When lawyers, cops, and judges get pulled over, they shut up and ask for their lawyer. Nothing you are going to say on the side of the road is going to make your case better, and most of it is going to make it worse.

In the news today, a Queens real estate developer was indicted in New York state court on 34 criminal counts. It’s a high profile case and the defendant likes to talk, so there was some question of whether there would be a “gag order” imposed on the parties.

The judge declined to impose a gag order, which fans of the defendant seem to think is a great victory for their guy, who they believe is being unfairly and politically persecuted by the woke mob.

It’s not a victory, it’s a trap.

Once charges have been filed, a defendant making public statements with the intent to convince people not to testify, to testify falsely, and in other ways impede a prosecution is an additional criminal case that can be filed for obstruction and probably draws a contempt charge.

A good client with a good lawyer doesn’t need a gag order to protect them, they don’t say anything as a matter of course.

A bad client with a bad lawyer won’t even be stopped by a court order.

Sometimes a gag order is kinder to a defendant than its absence.