2 ms·

The common advice is to never talk to police or consent to any search, even when you're sure there's no contraband in your car.

• ufmace 10y ago
  It needs a little perspective, though. That advise is from defense lawyers, and it is intended to make it easier for them to exonerate you and/or get a good plea bargain after charges have been filed. But it's a much better outcome to not have charges filed at all. This may involve actually engaging with the officer on the scene, telling him what he wants to know, letting him see the full situation. In this particular case, if she had pulled the whole "I don't give consent to search anything", "Am I being detained", "I want my lawyer" bit, she most likely would have been searched anyways, had the possession charge filed, and been convicted of it, no matter what kind of lawyer she had, because there were in fact drugs in her car. On the other hand, engaging with the officer and behaving in a way he would expect somebody who is actually innocent to behave allowed him to take a closer look at things and decide that the evidence doesn't quite match up with an open-and-shut possession case, and that it deserved being looked into further. That's not to say this is a good idea in every situation. The lawyer advice often is a good option, particularly if you are in fact guilty of the crime that you are suspected of.