Best Approach with Police after a Shooting

Since IANAL....

What are you legally required to say without counsel present? Is it just your name?

Whatever that legal minimum is, that's all you should say. Right or wrong, it's a homicide, you're the prime suspect. Nothing that the police ask you is for your benefit. Nothing you say will be to your advantage.

Beyond whatever minimal amount of info the law requires you to give up without a lawyer, your only other statement should be that you will answer no questions and provide no information without an attorney of your choice present.

If you're smart, that choice will have been made before you need it... otherwise you're liable to get stuck with a public defender, who's wages are paid by the same government who's asking the questions. Your lawyer, who you're paying, clearly works for you.

If you cannot afford to hire competent, experienced, private representation on your own dime, you may want to reconsider carrying a firearm. Whether it should be that way or not, (and really, it should be, why should the cops automatically believe you when you claim self defense after killing someone) that's the way it is. If you shoot someone, even in a perfectly justified self-defense scenario, you're a felony suspect. Murder, if they die.

Behave accordingly.

Shut up and lawyer up.

--Shannon
 
gvf said:
Is there any commonly held advice for the following: if involved in a SD shooting, is it better to talk to the police at the scene and cooperate with questions, or refuse until a lawyer is contacted?
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You should be acquainted with LawDog. He is a moderator here on TFL in the General Discussion Forum. He is also a moderator on THR and he is a real life LEO in Texas. He also has a blog and if you are not a daily reader of his blog, The LawDog Files, you are missing out on some very good stuff (stories, advice, opinions, all the stuff a blog should be). On January 4, 2007, LawDog wrote, Meditations on Aftermath, where he levels some extraordinary advice to anyone who has been involved in a self-defense shooting. He takes you through the whole thing from the shooting to what to expect when LE arrives.

I apologize for not linking directly to that particular story, but it has been archived. However, by having the date, which I have provided, you will be able to find it on this page of his blog (you will have to scroll down to the date, past the picture of the dog riding the horse, almost to the bottom of the page). Read it!
 
Great Advice

This is great advice, I've bookmarked this page and will refer to it often!
Thanks all
 
Is there any commonly held advice for the following: if involved in a SD shooting, is it better to talk to the police at the scene and cooperate with questions, or refuse until a lawyer is contacted?
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Wouldn't it be preferable to just take your chances with the perp, rather than dispense capital punishment? After all, you can't be absolutely sure what the perp's intentions are! You wouldn't want to take the life of a mentally-challenged uncivilized savage, would you? ;)
 
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