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And what about witnessing a crime committed against some complete stranger? Considering separately both the cases of a crime in progress, and one recently comp

And what about witnessing a crime committed against some complete stranger? Considering separately both the cases of a crime in progress, and one recently completed? Also considering whether the crime is accidental e.g. hit-and-run, or professional, financially-motivated actors. Recall that among the latter class are the white-collar criminals capable of retaliation against witnesses, and the reason we have white-collar whistleblower protection laws.

mplanchard 3y ago
Yeah exactly. There’s enough nuance here that it would be really nice to have a lawyer around to help you. My take though is that there’s a difference between being questioned by the police and a police officer asking you for directions or asking “which way did he go” while chasing someone or something like that. If I were a witness to a crime against someone else and was giving a statement, I would absolutely insist on having a lawyer present. If I were a witness to an ongoing crime against someone else and could point the police in the right direction to stop it, I would of course do so.