Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

The best piece of advice any lawyer can give a person in your friend's position is "Shut the **** up!"

It's unlikely fingerprints would remain on a car door a year later. There may not be fingerprints at all; police officers will often lie to a suspect, claiming they have evidence that doesn't really exist, to get damaging statements. The courts say this is just fine.

Your friend should not talk to anyone but an attorney about this matter. If he can't afford an attorney, he should wait until they actually file charges, then ask the judge to appoint the public defender.

I agree with Mr. Marshall. Tell your friend to not talk to the police about the incident. If files are charged and the judge won't appoint a public defender hire a private attorney in your area. Please let me know if you need any more help.

Recommend? If questioned or charged, shut up and hire counsel to represent and defend him. If he is serious about doing so, have him contact me to discuss his rights and defenses.

I agree with the other posts that your friend should not say anything more to the detectives. Unfortunately, he can't take back what has already been said. However, depending on the circumstances surrounding his "conversation" with the detectives, a lawyer may be able to get the statements suppressed. Of course, that assumes the lawyer believes it would be in your friend's interest to suppress the statements. From what you have posted, it is just as likely that the statements are helpful to his case; it appears that he explained why his prints were there without incriminating himself.

I disagree with Mr. Marshall that the prints are not likely to have remained for over a year. There is no way for the print examiner to tell when the prints were left on the surface. And, unless the surface was cleaned or exposed to other conditions that destroyed the prints, they can remain on the surface for years. Assuming the prints were on the inside of a door, it is conceivable that the surface was not wiped clean from the time that your friend was last in the car until the time that the police recovered the car. Beyond that, it is not clear from the facts you provided how long the police had the car in their possession or when they lifted the prints. It may be that the car was recovered and the prints were lifted many months ago, but that the police only recently "matched" the prints to your friend.

I do agree with Mr. Marshall that it is quite possible that the police lied about the prints. It also possible that the cop's conclusion that the prints matched your friend is inaccurate. These types of errors are not uncommon.

Bottom line - there is a lot that a good lawyer can do to help your friend. Now all he needs to do is find a good lawyer. The way to do that is to "interview" a few of them for the job. Ask detailed questions about the lawyer's experience and litigation track record. Find out what the lawyer's proposed course of action would be in this case. Then compare the answers and chose the lawyer who responds with a specific plan of action based on the facts of this case.

Good luck. Deirdre