By Nora Calder · October 7, 2026
As a prosecutor I watched many cases built almost entirely on what the accused said in the first hour. Most of those people were not trying to confess. They were trying to explain.
Stress makes memory unreliable. A small inconsistency between your statement and the evidence can be presented as a lie, even when it was an honest mistake.
Saying 'I want to speak with a lawyer before answering questions' is not an admission of guilt. Officers hear it every day, and it protects you.
Once you have counsel, we decide together whether giving a statement helps. Sometimes it does. That decision should be made calmly, with the evidence in front of us.
