Charged With Murder

Answer:

If you ever happen to be charged with murder, the first thing you should do is remain quiet. The police are not your friend. They’re agents of the prosecutor. They have no authority at all to lessen charges, to sweet talk the prosecutor. It doesn’t matter what they say to you— stop talking. They are not your friend. They are there to do a job, and that is to write these police reports, forward them to the prosecutor, and at some point, they will be the ones that will be testifying against you. Step number one, if you’re charged with murder or any other crime, stop talking. Be quiet. The second thing, if you’ve been charged with murder and are are out of custody, contact a lawyer immediately so that at your initial appearance, your arraignment, you show up with competent counsel that’s going to walk through the whole case with you from start to finish so that you can make sure that the theory of the case and the approach to the case remains consistent the whole time. There are so many things that can happen in a murder case, and you want to make sure that you are getting yourself the best possible chance. Finally, do not reach out to the friends or family of the victim. It doesn’t matter if the victim was a loved one, or your cousin, or baby mom, or anything like that. Stay away from the victims because, again, this is going to weigh into whether you’re going to be released on some type of bail or something. If they feel like the victims are being threatened or there’s a danger to the safety, you’ve got to be careful about all these things because in Arizona you have victims’ rights statutes. They have the right to weigh in on release conditions and other things, so stay away from the victims. Be quiet. Be quiet. Stop talking. Get yourself a good lawyer. Stay away from the victims, and then address the charges head on. Don’t avoid them. They’re not going to go away. You’re not going to wave a magic wand and they go away. You’re going to have to forge a successful and adequate defense. Contact our office. Contact a competent attorney’s office. They can get ahead of these charges and make sure that they are properly addressed.