My husband is a pest control technician. He was at an apartment complex subbing in for a tech that was out. One of the tenants has filed a police report claiming he stole some money they had in their mattress. My husband was in fact in that unit but he was being escorted by a maintenance guy. When he arrived for that unit the tenant was not prepared so he dusted underneath the bed and a little on top near the baseboard. The bed was not prepared and had several items including luggage on top. The maintenance guy stepped out for a couple of min while he was treating the bedroom. Shortly after the maintenance stepped out my husband stepped out to let him know he was done treating but that he was unable to treat the bed because it was not prepared. He did let the maintenance guy know he did dust what he could and he also wrote it up in his paperwork.
My husband has no need to steal any money. He makes between $2000-$3000 every 2 weeks in addition to what I make and we are currently living in my parents house to save up some money for a house. He has been working with this company for over a year and has never been accused of something like this. Usually when someone calls they are calling to request him or let the manager know they were very please with his work.
I just want to know what are his rights and how can he fight this? I am 100% sure he did not steal this money. I have been with him since I was 16 and he was 17. I just want to make sure he is not wrongly convicted. Thank you for all the help in advance!
You weren't involved in this alleged misdeed.
You simply asked a question, but your innocent questions could even cause your husband to become even more entangled into the snare of the police dragnet.
Why?
How?
Most people talk too much.
That is always the greatest risk a criminal suspect takes when he or she voluntarily talks to the police.
Contrary to what the police might publicly pronounce, they are completely disinterested in the "suspect's" account of things.
The police want to IMPLICATE someone, not exculpate the someone they are eyeballing.
This lawyer, who happens to be a friend of mine, lays out a greta case as to why no one should ever talk to the police.
If You want to Fast Forward:
1:04 The Fifth Amendment
1:50 A Listening Test
2:58 Justice Robert Jackson
3:58 People who really ought to know better
5:17 The uncountable number of different crimes on the books
6:16 Federal Fish Crime 7:38 Advice to a former student facing the IRS
8:31 Reason 1: It cannot help (the hearsay rule)
10:02 Reason 2: What's the rush? You can admit guilt later.
11:14 Senator Larry Craig
11:48 How proven-innocent people were convicted by confession
13:20 Reason 3: Your innocent mistakes can hang you
14:30 Reason 4: Even the pure truth can help the police to convict you
15:56 The basic function of the Fifth Amendment
17:42 Reason 5: The police's mistakes can hang you, too
18:15 Pop quiz!
19:00 "You are the kind of people who should never talk to the police under any circumstances for as long as you live."
19:33 Reason 6: Even the questions can incriminate you
21:33 Reason 7: Telling the truth can give weight to false evidence against you
24:42 Just ask Martha Stewart and Marion Jones
26:22 "God bless the Bill of Rights!"
27:02 "What's left of equal time"
27:18 Officer George Bruch, Virginia Beach Police Department
27:38 "Everything he said was true"
28:34 "Anybody go above 55 on the Interstate?"
29:28 Every driver does something illegal to justify pulling them over
29:44 "Do you know how fast you were going?" - everyone wants to be honest
30:20 People are stupid
30:46 80% of convictions don't go to trial because they confess
31:12 Hardened criminals like to tell their story, even to police
31:23 The officer's edge is the overtime rate motivating him to stay
32:22 The defense attorney's job is to get to their client before I do
32:30 Example of eliciting confessions of the elements of the offense
33:20 Trying not to admit guilt is like trying to win an Olympic boxing match
34:12 Miranda warning and getting a waiver
35:02 "Before you say anything, let me tell you what I know"
36:00 "Before you start talking to me, let me tell you [what will happen if you lie]"
36:36 The three types of people
39:22 Tricks of the trade: switching off the tape recorder
40:54 If you talk to the police, even on the phone, everything said will be written
43:12 There are some intelligent criminals, mostly in big office buildings
43:37 The 3 strikes: 1) defense attorney; 2) police witness; 3) confession evidence.
45:30 The recording is usually wiped as soon as the police transcript is written.
46:46 Tricks of the trade: "Write a letter of apology" (yes, we're allowed to lie)
This police detective simply offers his "amen" to what the lawyer said.
Your husband might lose his job.
He won't lose his freedom, however, by not talking to the police.
If he does insist on telling his story, he should ONLY do so with a licensed criminal defense attorney accompanying him.
