Helpful Details You Should Know Before Your First Call With A Defence Lawyer

You’ve been arrested, your mind’s reeling. You’re in a panic. You don’t know what to do. This is a terrible situation to be in. I’m going to give you the top six things you should know before calling your lawyer. The police upon arrest, they’re going to give you a right under Section 10 B of the Charter. You have the right to retain and instruct counsel without delay. Now what that means is they’re going to give you a right to call a lawyer, typically, at the police station, you need to think, you need to slow down right now, remain calm and listen to that lawyer. They’re going to give you some good advice. So first and foremost, that lawyer is going to ask you what you’re charged with. Why have you been arrested? And you don’t want to overshare things. You want to stick to the basics, because it’s a fairly quick phone call, and you want to listen carefully that advice. Let the lawyer do most of the talking. Be guided by their questions. Again, don’t overshare. It’s not the time to prove your innocence. It’s the time for the lawyer to protect your rights so you don’t have to go through your story about what happened, you’re not trying to convince anyone in your innocence that lawyer is trying to protect you so that you don’t give a statement to the police, you don’t consent to a search, and you do the right thing at the right time so you don’t hurt your case. You’re going to tell the lawyer as well whether you were searched and what was found. They’re going to ask you that question. Okay, so think about that. Have you been searched? What was found? If anything, and again, that lawyer is going to tell you not to consent to a search. The lawyer is going to also tell you to shut up, to exercise your right to remain silent, not to give any statement of the police, just be polite, cooperative. Go where they say you’re going to go, but say nothing. Give your name, rank and your number, identify yourself, and that’s about it, and just shut up in that interrogation room they’re going to ask you as well, have the police indicated whether you’re going to be released on bail conditions, and if you know that, you can go over that with them. The police may ask to talk to the investigating officer as well to see if you’re going to be released. If you’re not being released, then a bail hearing needs to be arranged, and you may want to retain that lawyer or have duty counsel do a bail hearing. So, you need to ask questions. But, you know, ask questions to the lawyer what’s going to happen and clarify things. Make sure you understand everything. Make sure you understand your right to remain silent, that you don’t have to say anything, and what to do when you go in that interrogation room. I mean, say nothing. You have to stay calm and respectful to the lawyer. And again, you’re not trying to prove your innocence. The lawyers just giving you your rights at that point. What you need to do now, not to hurt your case further, and clearly, do not talk to the police after that at all. Okay. So this is a situation you just think the lawyer will calm you down. They’ll know what the questions to ask. But you really need to know what you’re arrested for. You really need to know the situation, whether you were searched, etc, you can ask the investigating officer if you’re going to be released on bail. And that’s going to be a fairly quick call. Typically, these calls are five to 10 minutes. The lawyer is going to do most of the questions. Or I should say, give you most of the advice. You’ll do less talk than the lawyer. They’re going to know the questions you ask so be guided by that. These are, duty counsel is usually a good lawyer. They are. It’s a 1- 800 number free service. You can also call your lawyer, or any private criminal lawyer in this situation, but make sure you exercise your right to counsel and make sure you remain silent. So, there you have it. There’s good six good tips about what you should know before you make that first call to a lawyer upon arrest.