The following is intended to be general advice only of what to do or not do. Every case is unique. Consult with your lawyer before doing anything.

1. Never give a statement to the police. What you say is admissible in court only if it hurts you. The district attorney charges countless cases each year that would be unprovable in court except that the defendant gave a statement. If you’ve already provided a statement, there may be things that can be done to undo or minimize the damage.

2. Never believe what the police tell you. They may be nice to you, but they're looking to put a case together that will hold up at trial. Off tape, they will deceive, make false promises, and say whatever it takes to get you to waive your rights. Although statements and confessions are sometimes thrown out of court because they were unlawfully obtained, police are never disciplined for tricking a suspect into waiving his rights. Never assume the police are telling you the truth.

3. Never talk about your case with anyone except your lawyer. All statements made by you about what happened, written or verbal, are admissible against you at trial. Letters sent to employers sometimes get turned over to the prosecution. There are inmates who are looking to testify against someone so they can get a good deal in their case. If in jail, never show your police report to anyone.

4. Never talk about your case over a jail telephone, except to your lawyer. All telephone calls from the jails are tape-recorded. You should assume your conversations will be reviewed by law enforcement, and that tapes of your conversations will be turned over to the prosecutor.

5. Do not attempt to be your own lawyer, or to manipulate your case, such as by lining up false witnesses. This is a strategy that almost always backfires at trial.

6. Avoid getting legal advice in the jail. When it comes to the law, not much of what you hear in jail is accurate. There are, unfortunately, a lot of people in jail or prison right now because they followed the advice of a jailhouse lawyer.