What if the officer says they will go easy on me if I cooperate?

Very often police officers or agents will tell you, “Listen, work with me, we’ll go easy on you.” Sometimes that’s true, but you don’t know when it’s true and when it isn’t, and if you do anything with law enforcement, whether it’s police or federal agents, before you have an experienced criminal defense lawyer representing you, you’re making a horrific mistake, and here’s why, local police and agents cannot, as a matter of law, bind the prosecutors, so you can have the nicest police officer or the nicest federal agent or people you think are nice, who really have very little power. Now, they often have a say, so if you’re polite and courteous, if you have a lawyer that doesn’t go to battle with every prosecutor they meet and every agent they meet, you’ll come out better. Nevertheless, you can’t navigate those waters alone, you must have an experienced criminal defense lawyer before we ever get to the point of going easy or not going easy, whether to cooperate or not, so call us and we’ll be more than happy to help you and advise you.

By Jeffrey S. Weiner, P.A.