Legal Question in Criminal Law in Washington

Unusual predicament

I worked for a guy who has just

been charged with wire fraud and

identity theft. I did

landscaping work and manual labor

for him.

He had a partner and a lot of

people who worked under him who

stole credit cards and then bought

electronics and sold them.

I had nothing AT ALL to do with this

crime, and had NO IDEA it was

going on.

On about two occasions I helped

him box up and then bring the

electronics to FedEX because I had

NO CLUE that they were stolen

electronics.

He also gave me some GPS units to

sell and he was paying me to sell

them. Anyways, we have a family

friend who is a Detective and it

turns out his friend is investigating

this case and working with the

feds. I asked our family friend to

speak with the detective who's on

the case and to ask him what I

should do with the GPS

units.

He then said the detective wants to

meet with me. I spoke with the

detective over the phone and he

asked if I could come in for an hour

because he wants me to look at

some pictures and ID some people.

He said don't worry you're not in

any kind of trouble, we just want to

see what you know, etc.

Should I bring a lawyer with me?

I'm innocent and know nothing.


Asked on 11/28/08, 2:40 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
James J. White, attorney Law Offices of Smith & White, PLLC

Re: Unusual predicament

Absolutely you should bring a lawyer. Just because the detective said you are not in trouble does not make it so. If they told you they were investigating you then you probably wouldn't talk to them. The fact that you knew nothing isn't the end of the question. The question is whether, given the circumstances, you should have known. So, the best bet at this point is to say nothing. If you do speak with them, get a lawyer first. Ideally, you'll have an immunity agreement before talking.

At your service,

Read more
Answered on 12/04/08, 1:00 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Criminal Law questions and answers in Washington