Avoiding Post-Arrest Publicity
Be Careful What You Do or Say:
It Can Come Back to Haunt You
While your criminal charge is pending, it is essential to carefully monitor your behavior and statements. Anything you do or say could later be reported to the court and used:
- As incriminating statements in an effort to convict you;
- As an aggravating factor at sentencing in an effort to show your lack of remorse;
- As evidence that while your case was pending, you continued to violate the law.
Telling Your Story to Someone Other Than Your Lawyer
When facing criminal charges, you should only speak about the facts of your case to your attorney. Statements given to your attorney are protected under the attorney client privilege and can never be used against you. However, this privilege may be waived if you tell somebody else the same information. Even though you may fully trust your family and friends, any conversations between you and them are not privileged communications. As a result, your conversations with them could possibly be used against you in court. Making statements to family or friends could therefore place them in a delicate position and subject them to being called as a witness against you.
If you tell your story to a third party it could also end up in the local newspaper or appear in any other form of media. Hundreds of people are arrested each day. Just because you were arrested, doesn't mean your case will be the focus of a St. Petersburg Times article. To the contrary, the sheer number of Pinellas County arrests makes the job of sifting out appropriate stories a daunting task for news reporting services. Click Here to view Pinellas County Jail Online Inmate Inquiry Page. The news media is therefore very dependant upon both anonymous and identified tipsters to bringing a recent arrest to their attention. Telling your story to someone other than your lawyer only invites trouble.
Stay Away From the Internet
Many users of MySpace, Facebook, online blogs, or other online social websites, mistakenly believe that their site is private. However, state prosecutors have increasingly been using incriminating statements on these sites to help convict defendants or seek an enhanced sentence after trial. There have been several cases where defendants have left their guard down and confessed online to committing a crime. Others have detailed their methods of initially avoiding arrest or posted pictures of the crime scene. These indiscretions led, of course, to easy convictions for the prosecutor.
Search Warrants & Your Private or Restricted Internet Entries
Law enforcement officers are aggressively searching privately restricted areas of the internet for incriminating evidence through the use of a search warrant. Young adults are the most likely candidates to post such information online. Many teenagers have been caught posting pictures of underage drinking and illegal drug use. Users often believe that only their "invited" peers can view the information they have posted. However, law enforcement agencies have repeatedly proven this not to be the case. Don't make your case worse by posting information about you or your pending criminal matter. You should resist sharing such information as it could greatly assist law enforcement and the Pinellas County State Attorney's Office in securing a conviction or a lengthier sentence. Remaining quiet about your case also affords your attorney greater lattitude in explaining or mitigating your conduct to the judge.
We Routinely Counsel Our Clients on Ways to Avoid Post-Arrest Publicity
We can not only discuss the facts of your case and appropriate defenses, but also counsel you on steps to take in our effort to avoid bringing your unfortunate situation into the public eye. If you have been charged with a criminal offense in St. Petersburg, Clearwater, or other areas of Pinellas County, we can help! Our office can assist you in dealing with the legal challenges and your practical concerns associated with this difficult time.
Call us for a free consultation at (727) 578-0303
Related Links:
