What is a deadly weapon in aggravated assault?

Speaker 1
00;00;00;01 – 00;00;01;26
How can I say I want to talk to my lawyer when I don’t really have one? This is Christina Williams with Just Criminal Law.
Speaker 2
00;00;09;04 – 00;00;11;03
And David Mann. Legal storytelling specialist. That’s a really good question because you see people and you hear advice all the time. Just say I’m not going to talk anymore until I have my lwyer present. But what if you don’t have a lawyer?
Speaker 1
00;00;21;17 – 00;00;22;01
Right. I mean, this video is in response to a video you and I did where your friend was pulled over after he left a party you two were at. And he ended up saying too much and doing too much. And he later asked, he said, “I know you do these videos. What should I have done?” And in that particular hypothetical that you and I ran through, I indicated that I would always tell the officer, when they’re asking you about “Have you been drinking” or asking what you’ve been up to that requires you to incriminate yourself, always saying “I’d rather not discuss my day.” And inevitably, the officer is going to keep asking you questions but ultimately, what you need to say to end the conversation and force the officer to decide whether to arrest you or not, is “I’d like to talk to my lawyer. I don’t want to answer any more questions without my lawyer present.” And then, that spurred comments of, “What do I do when I don’t actually have a lawyer? Can I say that?
Speaker 2
00;01;29;24 – 00;01;31;09
Yeah. I mean, that seems to be what’s implied by saying “I need my lawyer present” is that you’re going to stand up right then, go to the phone, call your lawyer, and five minutes later, just like in the movies, you’re going to have your lawyer there. And most people are thinking that’s never going to happen. So are you saying that you can just say that, even if you don’t have a lawyer?
Speaker 1
00;01;52;05 – 00;01;55;19
Right. That is what will end the questioning. Probably that and that alone. You just need to say it. You just need to say “I don’t want to answer any more questions and I want my lawyer present
and you don’t actually have to have a lawyer; that’s just going to be the bell that alerts the officer that he needs to stop asking you questions because you’ve invoked your right to remain silent.
Speaker 2
00;02;19;21 – 00;02;23;21
Okay so, but you will need to have a lawyer for the next…when the questions continue or some other day, or the next day or something like that. So you’ve had a lot of experience with this, so someone could call you at 2:30 in the morning from jail and you could set something up with them. Is that how that works?
Speaker 1
00;02;40;13 – 00;02;41;15
Right. So, I mean, we always indicate you can call us anytime, day or night. And you may not speak with someone at 2:30 in the morning because my staff isn’t up at all hours of the night. But a message, just by calling our number, will be sent and we will certainly talk to you the next morning, prior to going to court, prior to anything happening. You need to talk to a lawyer, and we are definitely available to do that prior to any court hearing.
Speaker 2
00;03;16;08 – 00;03;20;01
Okay. So I think even prior to any of that, you might want to have alerted your family that you’re in jail and these are things that are happening and possibly they could even call you. Does it work that way?
Speaker 1
00;03;29;06 – 00;03;31;07
That happens a lot of the time. And it’s really important, before the officer decides “Do I have enough evidence to arrest you or not,” that you let a friend or family member know, “Hey, I’ve been pulled over. I’m being questioned.” You can always send a text and it’s really important, especially before the officer says you’re under arrest, that you alert somebody that you’re going to jail and then your friend or family member can get a hold of us.
00;03;52;09 – 00;03;53;06
but you alert
Speaker 2
00;03;58;18 – 00;03;59;10
Yeah. Because once you get to that jail cell, they’re going to take your cell phone away and stuff. So you need to do that before all of that. So assuming you’ve done that and there may be police asking you questions, so they call you
and you say that someone might answer you the next morning. Does that mean that you’re going to show up the next day and sort of handle all of the questions for them?
Speaker 1
00;04;24;29 – 00;04;26;07
Well, absolutely. I mean, if the officer, for some reason, still wants to continue to question you after you’ve been arrested, they’re going to read you your Miranda Rights. They’re going to tell you that you have the right to remain silent and that you’re entitled to an attorney. And they’re going to ask if you want to waive those rights and speak to them. And once you’re in custody and they’ve arrested you for a crime, it’s never in your best interest to talk to the police. I would say you shouldn’t ever answer any questions prior to being arrested or the like.
Speaker 2
00;05;06;25 – 00;05;07;07
Okay. Well, it makes a lot of sense for everyone listening to this video, especially this far, that they would have your number memorized and just ready to go. So how do they get in touch with your office?
Speaker 1
00;05;17;19 – 00;05;18;02
Sure. We’ll include a link in the description where you can call, text, or chat with a member of my team, any time, day or night. Here at Just Criminal Law, we know you only get one shot at justice. So make yours count!