With the risks involved in this business, it's imperative that we make no mistakes if we find ourselves in a position which none of us want to be in: under arrest. Now, 99% of the posts on here regarding this say "shut your mouth, don't say a word", but while this is good advice most of the time, it may not save you if you're a US citizen.
Here's the problem: Explicit Invocation
Back in 2000, a fellow named Van Chester Thompkins was arrested as a suspect in a fatal shooting, and when interrogated, went completely silent (with the exception of a couple comments that had no bearing on the case). At some point, the investigators asked him three questions in sequence:
Did he believe in God?
Did he pray to God?
Did he pray to God to forgive him for shooting the victim?
Unfortunately for Mr. Thompkins, he answered yes to all three questions (however, later claimed that his responses were involuntary). His motion was denied and he was sentenced to life without parole.
Now you may be thinking that his mistake here was answering those three questions, but his bigger mistake was not explicitly stating "I am invoking my right to remain silent."
Repeat after me:
"I am invoking my right to remain silent, please appoint an attorney to me." (given that you do not already have an attorney)
Once more:
"I am invoking my right to remain silent, please appoint an attorney to me."
Why is stating this necessary? Because in 2010, the US Supreme Court ruled that a person MUST plead the fifth to avoid self incrimination. Source. What this means is you shutting your mouth CAN be viewed as evidence of guilt.
All this said, do not say ANYTHING else. Once your attorney is present, you've done all you can do.
At all costs, don't get arrested in the first place. While your charges may not be to harsh (depending on your DOC(s) and whether or not you're a dealer), every member of our team faces life in prison if shit hits the fan. Vendors and resellers, this applies to you guys most.
Well, thats the end of this rant, stay safe (and just a bit paranoid), and Godspeed.
HereBeDragons
P.S. Do not contact us for legal advice. We are not lawyers. We are just a team of ordinary people who send drugs in the mail for Internet money.
Here's a Wikipedia article for those of you who don't want to read that bureaucratic illegible PDF.
TLDR for you lazy fucks: Tell them nice police officers that you would like to remain silent, before remaining silent.
EDIT: Many of you are making the valid point that you could theoretically shut your face and sit through the interrogations and end up not incriminating yourselves. However, the point is most people, even those who believe that they can make it through hours of questioning, will break at some point. When you have the option to stop the questioning and have a lawyer given to you for free, why wouldn't you accept it?
Here's the best analogy we could come up with: Imagine you want to get from San Fransisco to Los Angeles. Now you could walk there, but you're guaranteed to have a bad time and chances are you won't make it. But there's also a second option, where the government will give you a free plane ticket, and all you have to do is ask for it. Why would you walk? All you are doing is putting yourself at risk and making your life a whole lot worse.
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