• Crazyslinkz@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    20 hours ago

    Reminds me of the skit of a lawyer saying “shut the fuck up” repeatedly…

    Anyway I plead the 5th.

  • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    0·
    2 days ago

    I agree with the sentinment, but please don’t take this literally.

    Example: If you are at a car crash, and you literally remain silent and don’t verbally deny fault, the cops will assume its your fault (since the other driver will obviously deny fault) and the police report is say “[Your name] is at fault”, and that’s gonna fuck up the insurance claims. Always deny fault (but don’t make up false statements in the process of doing so).

    Also, if you are in the US, and is a suspect of an alleged crime, don’t actually literally remain completely silent. You have to verbally invoke your 5th amendment rights to protect against court shenanigans.

    Excerpt from wikipedia:

    In June 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in Berghuis v. Thompkins that a criminal suspect must now invoke the right to remain silent unambiguously. Unless and until the suspect actually states that he is relying on that right, police may continue to interact with (or question) him, and any voluntary statement he makes can be used in court. The mere act of remaining silent is, on its own, insufficient to imply the suspect has invoked those rights. Furthermore, a voluntary reply, even after lengthy silence, can be construed as implying a waiver. The new rule will defer to police in cases where the suspect fails to assert the right to remain silent. This standard was extended in Salinas v. Texas in 2013 to cases where individuals not in custody who volunteer to answer officers’ questions and who are not told their Miranda rights. The Court stated that there was no “ritualistic formula” necessary to assert this right, but that a person could not do so “by simply standing mute”.

    Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution#Explicit_invocation

    Just say a simple phrase such as “I hereby invoke my 5th amendment right to silence, and I want to talk to a lawyer”. Or if not in the US, just leave out the “5th amendment” part.

    (also, might be a good idea to have a few phone numbers of criminal defence attorneys memorized)

    TLDR: Please don’t interpret a meme literally

    • brbposting@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      0·
      2 days ago

      Also it is probably already known but e.g. well-dressed/spoken cishet white males in affluent areas are at times able to gamble and - by being incredibly polite, deferential, apologetic, and forthcoming - save time and money by taking the risk of piping up for the fuzz.

      Something tangential but potentially more useful: remember as citizens, our day comes in court and not on the side of the road. Politely/firmly assert your rights, but allow them to be violated. The alternative is struggling, being overpowered anyway, and making your lawyer’s job harder. Hope that bystanders are recording, remember every detail as best you can, and consider calmly verbally reasserting your rights.