Police use Accusers to Record Telephone Interrogations with
Suspects without Attorney Present
By Glen R. Graham - Tulsa Criminal Defense Attorney (918) 260-8184
There is a common investigative technique used by police detectives of having the alleged victim call the suspect up on the telephone while recording the conversation. This is now standard practice in sexual abuse type cases or sex charges but it can happen in any criminal investigation. The accuser at the request of the police detective calls the suspect up on the telephone and attempts to get an "incriminating" statement to use against the suspect.
This is such a common technique now that anyone that calls a person on the telephone and accuses someone of committing a crime is more than likely recording the conversation and gathering evidence to use against them.
Since you know that the telephone call is being recorded, there are three things that you should do:
(1) Immediately state the following: "I specifically deny any guilt and I demand my right to a jury trial, only a deceitful person would call someone up and record the conversation without informing that person that it was being recorded."
(2) State the following: "I have an attorney and I request any future conversations be in the presence of my attorney - questioning me without my attorney present is not legal. I have the right to have my attorney present during all questioning."
(3) I now specifically terminate the telephone call and request that you do not call me and that all communications be through my attorney or with my attorney present.
Do NOT engage in ANY conversation. No matter what you say on the telephone, it will only make the matter worse. It is evidence in the case and it will be used against you. Assume the worst and that police detective may have coached the person to ask specific questions and any answer will be incriminating, even a denial. Again, DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT - engage in any conversation without an attorney present.
Here is what you can do. You should immediately hire an attorney to protect your interests. You and your attorney may hire a private detective (who are sometimes former police detectives) to fight fire with fire. You may end up calling the person back and recording their "incriminating" statements.
Here is the problem - if you engage in conversation, then they will entrap you into a bad statement no matter how you answer or do not answer the question because they have prepared specific questions in advance in order to gather some kind of evidence against you.
So, when they call you - DO NOT engage in any conversation - this is just a form of "entrapment" or interrogation without your attorney present. The police are listening to the conversation and coaching the accuser in what questions to interrogate you with and so you should not engage in any conversation. Hire your own lawyer and/or detective and prepare your own questions to ask in advance of the telephone call, and if your attorney advises you to do so, then while recording the conversation call the accuser up and record the call. DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOUR ATTORNEY AND/OR YOUR OWN DETECTIVE ADVISES YOU TO DO SO.
