We need to talk about being arrested and charged with a crime. As a rule, criminal defense attorneys, myself included, focus on the process, court appearances, the outlook, the possible outcome, and more as we ‘prepare’ our clients for the what lies ahead.
But no one talks about what it feels like to be arrested and how it feels right up through whatever’s going to happen, happens. No one talks about how to act through every step of the process.
So, this: being arrested and charged with a crime is a hard thing, obviously, to go through. The physical act of being arrested is shocking. It’s humiliating and demeaning. There’s an immediate sense of overwhelming uncertainty while you wonder if you’ll ever get out of jail.
When you are arraigned and sent home, sometimes with conditions, the sense of dread and uncertainty at being in jail is replaced by fear of what lies ahead. It may be a cliche but that doesn't make it any less true that the full weight and almost unlimited resources of the government are aimed right at you.
The arrest puts you in a place where you now have to say something to family, friends, and work. That’s not easy, especially because the less you say about your situation the better.
This is made harder because it may be 2023 and flaws in the judicial system are well known and covered almost daily but we're also a society raised on over 30 years of Law & Order shows. There are many - too many- people out there who believe people who get arrested are guilty, otherwise why would the police have bothered. There are many others - too many- who believe that only guilty people hire lawyers. I heard a talking head on ESPN say that just the other day when talking about an NFL player's arrest. It wasn't just him, the rest of the panel nodded in agreement.
You will hear this and worse. It is best that you don't respond - there is no way to change these people’s minds and you are in no position now to do so - you have to keep a low profile. Throughout.
You need to be prepared to hear the police, prosecutors, and others speak badly about you-it's their job. I'm no longer surprised by clients who think the police and prosecutors "have to be fair" . They do not. They have a theory. That theory is that you DID IT, they will do whatever it takes to prove it. When they are wrong they will not apologize - they were "just" doing their jobs.
That's the cold, hard, fact about being arrested - they are looking for a conviction and are absolutely, totally not interested in your explanations. you can, in fact and make it worse. Which is why you hire an experienced defense attorney and they do all the talking for you.
You are going to want to ‘explain things’ to a few people you’re close to. It’s a natural desire to get someone’s approval – especially at a time when you’re facing so much disapproval. Do not do it.
You’ll have the urge to lash out at the unfairness of it all. Hit social media to rail against the system, complain about the cops, the law, the judge, the prosecutor, the victim-anything.
You can’t do that and knowing you can’t just adds to the stress – because every word you utter or write about your case puts you at more risk.
You will have to sit still and quiet while people you don’t know say bad things about you. You have to take it because reacting will only make a lousy situation a really lousy situation. Remember, the people on the "other side" think the worst of you. Any reaction will reinforce that opinion.
They call criminal defense attorneys advocates for a reason. It's what we do, we speak for you, we argue for you, we present your facts for you, when needed we stand up to the prosecution for you.
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