Aside from the legal advantages of not talking to the cops, it can also save you from a very aggravating conversation.
I had the cops come by my apartment once. Apparently some kids were shooting airsoft guns into the neighbor's yard and endangering their kids, and they thought I knew something about it. I didn't, but the cops spent the whole time acting like they had a witness who saw me talking to the kids--and singled me out by my t-shirt and car--and were convinced I knew who they were.
They even played good cop bad cop--one of them acted friendly and sympathetic, "I know you don't want to rat out your friends", complimenting me on my music (I had Iron Maiden playing on my Pandora at the time) while the other one was a total dick and kept saying "We know you're lying". They were expert at turning around everything I tried to say--I'd say "I'm sorry, I can't help you", and they'd say, "Why can't you help us? Why can't you just tell us what you know?"
Then, of course, since they were rather intimidating they kept commenting that I was acting "avoidant" and implying that meant I knew something, when actually I was just intimidated by them. It didn't help that at the beginning they told me to keep my hands out of my pockets, which is an obvious security measure but also a power game.
To this day, I still don't know if they got a tip on me from someone who saw me and misinterpreted the situation, or if they were sweeping the whole complex and bluffing their way into making everyone think they had a specific tip on them. Or maybe they were just practicing their interrogation skills. Nothing ever came of it, but I should have known from the outset to say nothing.
But would your situation have been any better if you had just declined to speak to them? The amount of time wasted on your part could have been far greater (let alone expenses for an attorny)
If the cops/DA have any cause to arrest you, talking to them won't do anything to save you from it. They'll just use everything you say against you in addition to whatever they had on you to begin with. You can't dig yourself out of a hole with the police when your freedom is on the line. (Talking might help a little bit in traffic stops.) And if they might gain anything on you later on, you can't talk them out of it.
The purpose of not talking to the police is to avoid giving them cause to arrest you when they don't already have it. If they already have cause to arrest you, you aren't talking your way out of it.
It was plainly obvious in my situation that they weren't questioning me as a witness so much as they were playing word games, trying to trick me into incriminating myself. You can't actually get ahead with that. At best, you'll maintain your innocence and they'll get tired of playing games with you (which is what I did). You get the same outcome with less stress by shutting up. If you stand there talking, you might make a very costly mistake.
Finally, public defenders are free. They're overworked and they suck in a lot of places, but where I lived at the time (and still live now) it's pretty rural so that's less of a problem. In small towns, in fact, a public defender is often just as good as the best lawyer money can buy locally. (If you're in serious trouble you hire a lawyer from the nearest big city, of course.)
yes, as the video makes clear, you can't compel the police to testify to anything you said, but they can use it all against you. its hearsay when you want to use and the unassailable truth when its used against you.
I had the cops come by my apartment once. Apparently some kids were shooting airsoft guns into the neighbor's yard and endangering their kids, and they thought I knew something about it. I didn't, but the cops spent the whole time acting like they had a witness who saw me talking to the kids--and singled me out by my t-shirt and car--and were convinced I knew who they were.
They even played good cop bad cop--one of them acted friendly and sympathetic, "I know you don't want to rat out your friends", complimenting me on my music (I had Iron Maiden playing on my Pandora at the time) while the other one was a total dick and kept saying "We know you're lying". They were expert at turning around everything I tried to say--I'd say "I'm sorry, I can't help you", and they'd say, "Why can't you help us? Why can't you just tell us what you know?"
Then, of course, since they were rather intimidating they kept commenting that I was acting "avoidant" and implying that meant I knew something, when actually I was just intimidated by them. It didn't help that at the beginning they told me to keep my hands out of my pockets, which is an obvious security measure but also a power game.
To this day, I still don't know if they got a tip on me from someone who saw me and misinterpreted the situation, or if they were sweeping the whole complex and bluffing their way into making everyone think they had a specific tip on them. Or maybe they were just practicing their interrogation skills. Nothing ever came of it, but I should have known from the outset to say nothing.