People grow up thinking the police are heroes who valiantly protect citizens at any cost. While there are brave cops in the world, most of the police officers in Denver, Littleton, and Arvada are focused on gathering evidence for your arrest. This might sound rather harsh of me, but in my 23 years of experience as a criminal defense attorney, I have seen more and more to confirm my theory as the years pass. Let's take a recent case of mine in Jefferson County to illustrate my point.

Police Call Under False Pretenses

In a recent case, a man (who would later become my client) received a phone call from a Golden police officer, telling him he had been charged with Attempted Unlawful Sexual Contact. As a criminal defense attorney, I know the purpose of this call is simply to inform the defendant they have been charged, and that they need to go to the police department to sign a ticket. If they refuse to sign the citation, a warrant for their arrest will be issued. But, the police officer didn't say what she needed to say in order to get off the phone. Instead, she told my client she “wanted to take a few moments to talk with him to get his side of the story.” My client was under the belief that he could talk himself out of the charge, so he called this police officer back a few more times. At the end of the final conversation, my client had explained his side of the story. He asked the police officer if he still was charged with a crime. She replied, and told him that nothing he said to her would help him in any way – in fact, she was recording all of the calls. She said she just wanted to give him a chance to explain himself. In other words, she wanted to gather more evidence against him to use in court.

[pullquote align=”center” textalign=”center” width=”75%”]Police officers only want to gather evidence to use against you in court. They aren't trying to help.[/pullquote]

Never Talk to the Police: It Will Never Help You

If my client had contacted me sooner, I would have advised him not to speak at all with police officers. This is because I know they are trained to gather evidence in Adams, Denver, and Douglas County. They know what to say to get people to trust them. They say things like:

• “You didn't do anything on purpose, did you?”
• “I can tell you're not the kind of person who would do this.”
• “This isn't that big of a deal.”
• “I know this was an accident.”

Unfortunately, they catch people off guard in their weakest moment. A police officer will listen closely to a person's words as well as the inflection of their voice: If you issue too strong of a denial, they will put it in their report. If you don't deny the allegations strongly enough, they will put it in their report. In other words – you simply can't win when talking with the police in El Paso, Boulder, or Yuma County.

Why You Need an Experienced Criminal Defense Attorney

Most of my clients are scared. Most of them don't know what's happening to them. This makes sense – for most of them, this is the first time they've been in any legal trouble. The problem is, sex crimes have serious consequences. You don't want to blunder your way through the case, because your future is at stake. Because of this, you need to contact an experienced criminal defense lawyer immediately if you have been contacted by the police. Simply tell the officer you wish to speak with your lawyer before speaking with them further. Then, contact one of the experienced lawyers at our office for a free consultation. You'll leave with more information about your situation and will have a solid game plan.

Request a Free Consultation

If you or a loved one has been contacted by the Englewood, Centennial, or Highlands Ranch law enforcement, never talk to the police – instead, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent, and contact an experienced criminal defense attorney at the O'Malley Law Office for a free consultation at 303-830-0880. Together, we can protect your future.

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