Withdrawal
"So, how's my case look, Miss Justice?"
"I'll be honest with you, from what you told me, it doesn't look too good. You were caught red handed robbing a bank. When you got back to the police station, you made a statement in which you confessed to the bank robbery, and then you went on to confess to three other bank robberies that they didn't even have you on. So, right now, I'm thinking it doesn't look too good."
"Oh yeah, I guess you're right. But I want to withdraw that statement."
posted by Blonde Justice on 3/01/2009
5 Comments:
It's amazing what people are willing to confess to, particularly if they then turn around and try to fight the charges.
One would think that a rational person, under suspicion of a crime, and particularly after an arrest, would think about their possible impending trial and think "how is this going to look to a judge / jury?"
One would also think that a career criminal (e.g. someone who has committed or attempted multiple bank robberies) would try to spend a few minutes learning how to avoid such mistakes.
Granted, I'm not in favor of letting bank robbers, or any other violent criminals go free, but why make it any easier on the prosecution, particularly if you intend to fight the case.
Stupid.
Stupid
But isn't that the most common denominator for defendants, and especially defendants who confess.
I thought you'd be interested in this article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022701549.html?hpid=topnews
I remember some time ago you posted about a case where your client had left his child in a car, and you felt he'd been treated unequally to a wealthier person in the same situation. The article is about the cases of parents whose children died after being left in hot cars, and addressed the prosecutorial discretion issue, among other points, so I thought of your blog and wanted to share it.
- A longtime reader and fellow public interest lawyer
I remember this from when I worked for a judge. It was unreal what some of the defendants would confess to, totally sua sponte.
Withdrawal doesn't work for birth control, either.
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