We Asked Another Attorney Whether You Should Talk to Responding Officers After a Defensive Shooting 

EXACTLY!

Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law, after all.

Only if they believe it was a bad shoot… It’s worth having an attorney to talk to first, but it’s also important to recognize that you may need to have some type of communication with police in order for them to understand why it was in fact a good shoot.

@@tv92taylor It's tricky because the exact same case facts can be a good shoot in one jurisdiction but be a bad shoot in the one next door. Seems safer to wait for your lawyer to be able to advise you which one you find your case in, unless you have sound knowledge both of the politics of the police and prosecutor as well as the iron-clad legality of your actions.

@@tv92taylor sorry to burst your bubble, but the state's only purpose is to prosecute and they will use anything possible to make a case against you.

If not more so.

@@lewisholmes5745 it's not more important, because if you are dead it doesn't matter.

@@joshdavis3239 - Personally, I'd RATHER be dead than spending the majority of the rest of my life in prison knowing I did nothing wrong and was defending myself....like Kyle, because some prosecutor wants to make an example of you to further his career.

@@PayNoTaxes0GetNoVote your example doesn't work because Kyle is a free man. You only have to convince one idiot on a jury. If you always do the right thing you have nothing to worry about.

@@joshdavis3239 - That's what Kyle did. Defended himself and ALMOST got railroaded. Yes my example works. He's free now but he was put in jail, in seclusion and required a 2 MILLION dollar CASH bail.

Absolutely not true, people explain there way out of handcuffs all the time. Listening to a lawyer who has never put them on someone or taken them off sometime

Absolutely. I watched The First 48 for years and you saw that all the time. Get if off your chest. You'll feel better. Then you're in handcuffs. I can count on both hands the number of people I've see request an attorney right off the bat. Even the innocent should do so.

Not only are the 911 recorded but any other calls you make are most likely recorded by the NSA (yes the US government) with or without a warrant.

​@@robertyoung9589 Yes, you are quite likely right, but those are much less likely to show up in your trial for defensive firearm use. Is the prosecutor going to hear the 9-1-1 recording from the local dispatch center? Damn straight. Are they going to have access to NSA recordings? Extremely unlikely.

Have you ever used the service or know someone who did? Love to know if they actually do what the say they will, or if they just go through the motions. Lots of that going on today.

"To me that means it's just something else to train, Bingo!!!! We spend 100's of hours in gun training, YT videos, competitions, becoming certified, etc but we spend little to no time on what to do after the unfortunate happens.

I'd say no more than "I invoke my right to silence and my right to an attorney." If your lawyer tells you not to say a word to the police, the police can say you lied when you told them you were going to cooperate.

​@@bwofficial1776 also something not mentioned in vid. if you start talking instead of invoking, perhaps the police will hear what you said differently than what you actually said. jurors often times will simply believe the police. by remaining silent you much minimize this great hazard. nit eliminate as they could report they heard you speak when you didn't.

Officer: Sir is this your home? Patel: I am willing to speak and cooperate with you once I have an attorney. Officer: Sir, I am just trying to understand what happened. You are in your PJs and it is 4am. Was this guy breaking in? Patel: I am willing to speak and cooperate with you once I have an attorney. Officer: But I see this door is damaged and appears to be kicked in - is that the case? Patel: I am willing to speak and cooperate with you once I have an attorney. Officer: OK...blink once if this is your home. Patel: I am willing to speak and cooperate with you once I have an attorney. Officer: Sir, Looks to me like this guy was breaking in - is that what happened? Patel: I am willing to speak and cooperate with you once I have an attorney. Officer: Well, let's go to the station so I can ID you and you can call your attorney.

@@papimaximus95 I agree. Basic information such as your name, yes this is my gun, yes, this is my house or car and the facts to the environment is good for them to know. Details of what happened? Well, he attacked me, and I defended myself. That would be enough said for me. Then I would lawyer up.

@@fasnuf Thank you and agreed. This notion of saying nothing at all is not reality.

@@papimaximus95 Spending several hours in cuffs/jail until you can contact your attorney is far better than spending the rest of your life in prison.

Never promise to give a statement later. What if your defensive encounter was legally murky and your attorney advises you not to give any statement? Now you've harmed your own credibility.

I don’t speak to police. Take me to jail.

Lies

I hear you, but (not my words) even the best, smartest, most amazing lawyers know _that they don't know_ every hook, crook, and trick that the prosecutor/law enforcement will use. Thus, they themselves, remain silent. So, it's okay to be humble; you must think that you can't possibly know all the legal intricacies either. So, defaulting to silence is the safest choice. Sure, you _could_ get lucky. There's videos of murders (later found out) who talked their way out of a police interrogation. There's also a video of an _experienced police interrogator_ (a woman) failing to outsmart an interrogation for murder (she was convicted). Consider 20 months in jail, then being free and starting over. Or life in prison. Being silent gives you the best chance of the former.

That's fair and it's good to have these perspectives. Massad is going from his law enforcement side while defense attorneys are vying for their clients. I'm under no false impression that the law enforcement is going to go after me as a matter of design, regardless of individual intent, so I'm going with the defense attorney advice.

@@latetotheparty7551 yeah, on Massad that is true but Andrew Blanca is a defense attorney that specializes in self defense. He wrote the book on it. Don West, National Trail Council for CCW-Safe, also recommends a limited statement to the responding officers. All of them also point out you have to know yourself and IF you are capable of the limited part of that.

So say we all. Sheesh!

Oh dang! Sorry about that!

@@ASPextra I thought it was kind of funny!

"Did you invoke your 5th amendment right on scene?" "I don't know, probably not" "This man is a liar and nothing he says should be regarded as truth"

Not true.

That’s just it. The attorneys usually deal with people where there is at least a question that it was legit.

yes I've heard same. Be the first to call 911..... on this channel no less. So I think it's a gut feel. If you sense that you had no choice whatsoever but to save your life with lethal force, I think a short, quick call to 911 quickly and a brief, informative, factual report to responding cops then deferring to your lawyer is the best option. Other than that, like a case where there was some back and forth, alcohol involved, etc..... call the lawyer first. One of my friends had a small party at his house a few years ago when one of his acquaintances stayed late drinking with his wife. The friendly acquaintance became drunk and indignant and was much larger than my friend. My friend had been drinking as well. One thing led to another and my friend shot his friend/acquaintance in his home. Only his wife was the witness. His wife called police, my friend was arrested and was locked up for a few weeks before his employer hired him a great lawyer who got the county prosecutor to drop the charges due to self defense just before the grand jury met. My friend said he was crapping bricks 24/7 until he was cleared.

I'm no attorney but I'd say speak to yours first and have law enforcement go through the proper channels. The prosecution side of the stat always looks to prove guilt so that's baked in.

Speak to an attorney. Your recording will be evidence and IF you're prosecuted, it will be used against you. The only way it wouldn't, would be if it were stored on, say, a server in a foreign country where a court order would _explicitly_ be ignored. Or, if it were technically impossible through, say, an encryption scheme in which you couldn't be legally compelled/threatened with contempt of court.

No. All of those things will be established later. It is not worth taking the risk that you will say something stupid just so you can clear the air right then and there. The cops aren’t the people who you have to answer to it’s the jury and the judge. So trying to justify yourself to the cops and risking saying something that will jeopardize your freedom in the process is just not worth it.

@@darkcircle899 "So trying to justify yourself to the cops and risking saying something that will jeopardize your freedom in the process is just not worth it." What you say is the difference in going to jail for the night or having a detective call you in the morning. I can tell you from experience that not all self-defenders are arrested. For instance, if you are the homeowner at 2am and the officer makes a preliminary determination of who is the good guy (home owner) and who is the bad guy (guy with crowbar and gun in your living room) you will not necessarily go to jail if everything else looks above board. Same for a Quiki-mart or PCS mobile store owner/employee. So you really need to give basic information to establish who you are and what rights you may have.

@@exshenanigan2333 You should avoid shooting anyone and be sure to get some training.

@@papimaximus95 I was trying to ask a legal question, I am not sure why you are reflecting it as a suggestion to shoot anyone but that wasn't my intent. Just to make things clear. Thank you.

@@exshenanigan2333 "Papi Maximus what is the point of home defense if you're going to avoid shooting anyone? anyway. got my answer, thank you." Does this comment you tried to delete answer your question?

Just recognize that phrase is not an invocation of your right to silence.

I'm not a lawyer, so this isn't legal advice, but to me that sound like the perfect thing to say

As a federal police officer for over 28 years I totally agree!!! Say nothing!

@@DaveL9170 Thanks David. Sounds like you and I could have some interesting conversations!

I disagree. He put the jury at fear of death or great bodily harm and should be charged for it.

True. A crazed speeder (with an extensive rap sheet which included speeding) hit my vehicle from behind (I was in front). The police CLAIMED I said, " I thought there was enough distance when I pulled out in front of her." I was ticketed. My attorney said to me, "You almost convicted yourself." Sort of lost the case. Case was declared "mechanical failure." It's even more unrighteous, but I'll spare you the details.

Same as majority of life. It depends. Few things are absolute. You should never shoot your spouse - unless they are actively trying to kill and you see no other reasonable way to stop them. So even then, it depends.

What do you see when a lawyer lowers their pants? Depends.

I think that is possible, but not likely.

Not speaking is not being uncooperative, it's exercising your right. I'd be interested if you could find one example, let alone many examples, of negative consequences for doing so. It's not even about the lawyer having a clean slate, but the prosecutor finding holes in your testimony to discredit you. The state's only purpose is to build a case AGAINST you. Why give them more fuel?

@@IncrediPaulAZ I'm just using critical thinking and trying to look objectively at such a situation. I suppose if you know you're going to be arrested, then keeping quiet makes sense. if you can stay out of jail by cooperating, then that's better, I think. Certainly once you're under arrest, it's time to shut up, no doubt. I'd like to avoid being arrested.

@@VailJohnson fair enough. I'm not a lawyer anyway, so I have no actual experience with these situations. My response is just on principle and based on the information I've gotten from lawyers I know. 🍻

@@IncrediPaulAZ I understand completely and i'm married to a lawyer so I know that their advice is ALWAYS what's best for 'them', not you. Just sayin, cheers!

They're not magic words.

Things like that could sour a jury toward you if they sound like canned meme responses.

@@benhmn the context is early on, right after the incident, so as to not be jerks with the cops, and at least give that statement until lawyer arrives, however long that could take. It’s hard for me to imagine such a statement could prove to be an issue, but then again I’ve never been in such a situation.