What do you do if you're approached by someone and offer a deal on certain merchandise, and the deal seems too good to be true?
If it seems to be too good to be true, then it probably is too good too be "true." The odds are, the item being sold to you is stolen, and if you purchase or receive the item, you can be arrested for the felony charge of "receiving stolen property." The law will assume that you "knew" it was stolen, if it is being sold to you way below its market value.
I exaggerated on my income on a mortgage loan application. Could I get in trouble if someone finds out?
Absolutely! Exaggerating income and lying about anything on a mortgage/credit card/bank loan application is fraud, and you may not know that "bank fraud" and "mortgage fraud" are both federal felonies.
And if you used the phone, fax machine, U.S. Mail or email to correspond with the involved loan officials, they can add two more federal felonies to your indictment, "wire fraud" and "mail fraud."
If you then deposit the loan money into a bank account - any kind of account, you are then looking at "money laundering!" Its almost hard not to commit "money laundering" today, and sadly, most people have no clue how easy it would be for the federal prosecutors to indict them overnight.
Be polite, and whatever you do, don't run!
What do I do or say if I'm pulled over?
Be very polite, respectful, maintain eye contact with the officer and always say "yes officer," or "yes Sir, or yes Maam," while never making a face suggesting disbelief in what he or she is saying. (Let's face it, more often than not you know why you're being pulled over."
Its best to personify humility and respect, if you would like to have the discretionary option of receiving a " warning" as opposed to a ticket. This works almost every time, though most people in this increasingly rude society today wouldn't know. Surprise the officer - show him/ her that YOU are a refreshingly nice throwback to a couple of decades ago when basic civility and manners were a good thing, and respect for law enforcement was a value worth trumpeting.
What do you do if you're arrested for anything?
Be respectful to the arresting officer and yet invoke your constitutional rights - your 5th amendment privilege (against self incrimination), commonly referred to as your right to remain silent, and your 6th Amendment right to counsel. If the officer persists in questioning you after you've already invoked your right to remain silent and your right to counsel, simply respond the same way you did initially, repeating your invocation of rights. There is no shame or inference of guilty by simply invoking your constitutional rights.
What do you do if the police officer reads you your Miranda rights?
Invoke them - regardless of guilt or innocence, and simply state that you would like to speak with an attorney; and yet be very respectful of the officers. They are in very stressful and dangerous jobs, and they need no additional aggravation or disrespect, even if making a false or mistaken arr est. If you witnessed someone else commit the crime, then that may be the only exception to this advice. In that case, you may choose to redirect the officer to the individual who actually committed the crime. No other response is necessary or advisable.
DRUNKS AND ROADSIDE TESTS
What do you do if you're asked to take a breathalyzer test?
If you were not drinking alcohol, take the breath test. Why? If you refuse to take the breathalyzer/intoxilyzer test - and assuming the police officer had the requisite "cause" to request that you take the test, then you will suffer a "license revocation" of at least 12 months in most jurisdictions. Also, a "refusal" to take the test in Florida, is now a separate crime - simply for the act of the "refusal."
If you have been drinking - more than two beers as an example, don't take the test.
Best advice: DO NOT drive if you have been drinking. Call your parents or a sober friend or taxi cab. You'll end up saving thousands of dollars in legal fees, bail money, towing charges, and a host of other fees and costs; and more importantly, you may even save a life - your own, or someone else's.
If a police officer asks me to get out of my car and do roadside drunk tests, do I have to do them?
NO. There is no legal requirement that you do "roadside sobriety tests" or "field sobriety exercises" since the Supreme Court disallowed "tests." You cannot be arrested for the separate offense of "refusal to obey police officer," for exercising your legal right to refuse to perform these "tests" or "exercises." If you are arrested, it will not be a consequence of your refusal to perform these tests; it will be for the offense of DUI.
If someone gets drunk in my home and they end up hurting someone in a wreck, am I in trouble?
Yes. Lawyers always get involved today, so the answer is always "yes." Her is why?
If someone gets drunk at your house and you gave them any alcohol - and if they then get into a car accident resulting in death or serious injuries, you will be sued. A lawyer representing the injured person or the family of the person killed, will start with your homeowner's police and build from there.
KIDS, PHONES, CARS AND DOPE
What do you do if your friend mentions something illegal on the phone?
Talking about something illegal is a crime called "conspiracy," and people are arrested and indicted almost daily for the crime of conspiracy. The only way to avoid arrest and indictment for wire fraud (at a minimum), and any number of other charges relating to the actual suggested conduct is to rebuke your friend immediately. If you even joke that you might agree to participate, you can and will be indicted, depending on who is listening, and then you're forced to tell a jury one day that you were only kidding.
What do you do if a friend pulls dope out of your car?
Pull over and get your friend and the dope out of your car immediately - the only exception: the friend can stay, if the dope gets dumped immediately out of your car. Why? You can be arrested for "constructive possession" even if you are NOT the one holding the drugs. It is only required for your conviction of this crime, that the drugs be "within" your "reach and proximity," and that you had "knowledge" of the presence of the drugs, and "knowledge" of the "illicit" nature of the contraband, period.
What do you do if you're at a party and someone pulls out drugs?
Leave the party immediately. When the police arrive (pursuant to a warrant or just an anonymous and yet corroborated tip, those in actual possession of the drugs will NOT be the only ones arrested. That's right - YOU will be arrested too and yes, later you'll have your chance in court to explain that you were only hanging out ("mere presence" defense) there at the party, had no intention of using the drugs, you're actually innocent, etc.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND ROAD RAGE
My boss is sexually harassing me. What can I do about it?
Tell the hear V.P. of the "Human Resources" dept., if the company is big enough to have one, and if not, see a lawyer about filing suit for sexual harassment.
What do you do if you're sexually molested?
Do not wash up or clean up, as you must help to preserve the evidence of the crime. Your body is essentially the crime scene. Tell the police immediately (even if you are related to, or friends with, the person who did this to you), and get to the hospital or Sexual Assault Treatment Center as soon as possible! There are "forensic (legal-scientific) reasons that require your physical presence and evaluation at the treatment center or hospital; so please, for your sake, get some help immediately. There may be traces of hair, saliva, semen or blood from which the experts can obtain a decent DNA sample, allowing for identification, prosecution and conviction of the perpetrator. Call your parents and loved ones as soon as possible, as they only want to help you.
These crimes can often occur as a result of victims being drugged. "Roofies," GHB and other dangerous narcotics can essentially knock you out or so disorient you, that you "pass out" and cannot stop the sexual assault. If you're in a bar or nightclub - or even at a date's house or a friend's party, and someone brings you a drink (even a nonalcoholic drink), do NOT drink it, unless you watched the bartender, friend or "date" make the drink right in front of you. If you didn't watch the drink being poured of if you leave it unattended for a moment, then you are clueless as to what was then put in it!
What happens if I get into a fight in traffic?
If you are in a "road rage" situation and you so much as put your hand inside the other person's car, it is a felony called "Burglary of a Conveyance." Putting your hand on the outside of their car is not a crime, but if your hand "breaks and enters" the imaginary place or airspace within their car, that is considered under the law to be "breaking and entering," otherwise known in Florida as a "burglary." And, if you touch the driver (or anyone in that car" against their will, the felony is then upgraded to "Burglary of a Conveyance with a Battery," punishable by 30 years!
CAUTION: IF YOU GET HURT IN AN ACCIDENT
Whose interests are they protecting, yours or theirs?
Never, ever sign forms or releases with any insurance carrier or its representative, adjuster or investigator, without your lawyer first reviewing the form or release - even if the representatives are offering you a check or settlement money;
Do not speak with an investigator, adjuster or any representative from an insurance carrier - even your own, before consulting with your lawyer.
Under no circumstances should you provide any representative of an insurance company - even if your own, with a "statement" over the phone or in person - taped or otherwise, without your lawyer present.
Hire a Lawyer!
Bottom line: Hire a competent attorney to protect your rights and your interests.
Is your lawyer a trial lawyer, or is he or she a settlement lawyer who has not tried cases all the way to jury verdict? Does your lawyer have a reputation for settling cases for short money - perhaps to avoid going to trial - to lock in his or her contingency fee?
Get immediate medical attention!
If you are in pain after an accident do not decline emergency medical treatment, EMS services of paramedics and/or ambulance transport to hospitals.
- Your injuries could and often do get worse as a result of neglect or lack of medical attention and treatment. You may not know the seriousness or extent of your injuries, given the reality that you may be in shock from the accident. The shock may mask more serious injuries. When you are no longer in trauma and shock, you will often experience increased pain. The applicable principle here: "When in doubt, check it out."
- From a case value standpoint, the delay in the self reporting of symptoms will often appear to adjusters and even jurors as embellishment - as though the belatedly described pain is exaggerated.
Never tell the nurses or doctors that you are "OK," if in fact you are not! Seems simple enough, and yet many people will routinely say that they're "OK," simple as a polite response, or because they don't want to sound like a whiner or complainer. The problem with this response, is that the nurses and doctors will then write down, "patient states "feeling OK,'" which will then be used against you later when you legitimately claim to have been injured and in pain all along . The medical record will be critically important in your cause.
