Example: Sam was arrested in connection with a shooting. The arresting officer asked him what happened, and Sam said, “Hey man, it wasn’t me. I was there, but I didn’t shoot anybody. There was this other guy, I don’t know who he was, but he’s the one who did the shooting.” Well, it turns out that the police had also taken a statement from Willie, an eye witness. Willie didn’t get a good look at anyone’s face, but he was certain that there were only two men present—the victim and the shooter. So now Sam had a real problem. He’d admitted to being at the scene of the crime and, of course, that “unknown man who did the shooting” was nowhere to be found. Since Willie testified convincingly there was only one other man beside the victim, the jury concluded that the shooter was Sam—since Sam had already admitted that he was present at the incident.

If the legal system worked perfectly, these mistakes would be corrected in court—but the system is flawed. Judges, jurors, lawyers, law enforcement officers, and probation officers all have limitations stemming from racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, plain stupidity, etc.¹ Moreover, in any court case, the parties’ resources play a big part in the outcome. (Here in the United States, you get the best justice money can buy.) And money notwithstanding, even the best criminal defense lawyers can’t always expose a witness who lies really well.²

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the officer who’s interviewing you is acting as an impartial judge, sorting out who’s naughty and who’s nice. The officer is building a case. That’s his job. And if you answer questions, you’re giving the officer building materials to construct a case against you. Contrary to popular opinion, truth is not your shield—at least not when you’re being questioned and arrested. The time to “explain everything” is when you’ve got your attorney with you, so you can be sure you won’t be misled, misunderstood or misquoted.


1.  See: Suggested Reference Material on Discrimination in the Legal System.

2.  Consider David Harris, who murdered a cop.  Harris, a good liar, got Randall Adams convicted and sentenced to death for this crime.  The case was the subject of a documentary film by detective-director Errol Morris, who played a critical role in Adams ultimate release: The Thin Blue Line, directed by Errol Morris (1988; Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2000).  Unfortunately, for every wrongfully convicted prisoner who is helped by people like Morris or by the network of Innocence Projects, many more unjustly convicted prisoners go unaided.