When accused of criminal wrongdoing, you might be tempted to get everything off your chest by talking to your loved ones and even investigators. You might think that by doing so the police will go easy on you, or maybe you can even put lingering suspicions to rest, thereby allowing you to reclaim your normal life.

Unfortunately, making that decision rarely results in positive outcomes. In fact, those who talk about their case with their loved ones and the police oftentimes end up convicted based, at least in part, on the statements that they made.

How the police trick you into talking

With that in mind, you need to be careful when you interact with the police. After all, their only thought is to try to get you to talk so that they can use your statements against you. Here are just a few of the ways that they might try to get you talking:

• Lying: The police can lie to get you to talk. This might involve lying about physical evidence linking you to the crime or about witness statements placing you at the scene in question.
• Making false promises: The police might promise to go easy on you, but that’s not really their call. Only the prosecutor can offer you a plea deal, so don’t fall for investigators’ tactics here.
• Coercing you to talk: Even if you don’t want to talk during an interrogation, the police might try to intimidate you into speaking. They could do this by positioning themselves in a physically threatening manner, or they might threaten criminal charges against your loved ones.

Know your rights

You have extensive rights during a criminal investigation, including the right to an attorney and the right to remain silent. Don’t let the police trample those rights on their quest to prove your guilt.

By acting on your rights and minimizing your contact with the police, at least until you have an attorney on your side, can help protect your criminal defense. Hopefully then you’ll be in a better position to beat the prosecution and walk away with your future intact.