Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida

Re: cooperate with prosecutor

Normally, what your best lawyers always will start with, is a thorough investigation of the facts. This means getting both sides of every story, every case. Many times, people have said to me, "Let me tell you what happened and you tell me if I have a good case." Unfortunately, this doesn't work: The lawyer must do more in most cases. Here, you have done a great job of providing information.

You have asked a multipart question, and I want to start with your rights:

"I would like to speak to my attorney before making a statement."

You may be bullied, you may be threatened with prosecution, you may be treated rudely. However, when you invoke your right to an attorney, it always provides far more protection than the right to remain silent.

Another aspect to your case information is that the prosecution may be based on your statement on the phone: I think a smart defense lawyer would be wise to examine Justice Scalia's line of argument concerning 'testimonial hearsay' in Crawford v. Washington. Until this decision, we all learned in law school that there was hearsay and non-hearsay. After Crawford, we now have 'testimonial hearsay' which is not allowed to introduced by the government under the factual scenario you have set forth. If there is other evidence, or if your are subpoenaed, the prosecution can go forward.

We wish you the best with this.

Warmest regards,

Stephen G. Cobb