I Am Not Guilty, Should I Talk to the Police in San Diego?

People often make mistakes when dealing with the authorities, particularly when dealing the police. Mistakes are understandable because the police have a tendency to intimidate people unless they deal with them on a regular basis. One of the biggest mistakes people make is thinking that it is okay to talk to the police if they are not guilty of a crime. While it should be harmless to talk to the police in San Diego if you have done nothing wrong, the truth is that you can do yourself serious harm by talking to the police even if you are not guilty.

If a law enforcement officer comes looking for you to “talk” to you it is because the officer either believes you are a suspect or believes that you have information pertinent to the investigation. It is important to keep this in mind. Unfortunately, innocent people often try to do the right thing by agreeing to talk to the police and, in the process, go from someone with information about the case to a prime suspect. Sadly, the police have a habit of assuming that if someone knows anything about a crime they must be part of the crime. The reality is that law enforcement officers frequently misconstrue something that is said and turn it around to be incriminating. Often, in their zeal to find a suspect they latch on to the first available person, even if that person is not guilty of the crime.

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If you are already considered a suspect then talking to the police is an even worse idea. At that point, being innocent isn’t the issue. “Explaining” or “talking your way out of it” is the worst thing you can try and do. Remember, a police officer’s job is to arrest someone. As the warning says, “Anything you say can and will be used against you.” All too often a police officer hears what he or she wants to hear. If you are truly not guilty of the crime the best thing you can do is to consult with an experienced San Diego criminal defense attorney immediately. Let your attorney do the talking for you. If you have pertinent information or an alibi that you need to share with the police let your attorney do it for you. That way you eliminate the possibility that something you say will lead to your arrest.

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Domenic Lombardo

Domenic J. Lombardo, Attorney at Law and a member of California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (CACJ), graduated from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), earning a B.A. in Economics-Business, before graduating with his J.D. from University of California, Hastings School of Law. Mr. Lombardo has been practicing as a criminal defense lawyer in San Diego for nearly 30 years, having started at the San Diego Office of the Public Defender in 1991 and then opened the Law Office of Domenic J. Lombardo in early 1996 as a sole practitioner. His practice is dedicated entirely to the defense of individuals accused of crimes and university misconduct, including Title IX allegations. While Mr. Lombardo works as the primary attorney for all his cases, he does have a team of investigators, forensic consultants, and paralegals to call on to help achieve the best possible result in every case. When he is not working, Mr. Lombardo is a family man, triathlete, and world traveler.

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