What are my son's rights if he is being accused of a robbery? 53 Answers as of November 11, 2011

Your son does not have to take any test, including a polygraph. The results of these tests are not admissible except upon prior agreement of the parties. The reason they are not is that they are not considered reliable. Hire an attorney. Your son should not speak to this detective, or any other, without counsel. Personally, I would not let him speak to the detective at all.

Your son is under no obligation to speak to law enforcement. People often make incriminating statements to police unintentionally. Because robbery is a serious felony, I recommend consulting with an attorney first. Most lawyers in the area offer free consultations.

You SHOULD have a HUGE problem with giving the police a voice stress test and allowing your son to be interviewed by the police without counsel. NEVER ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE QUESTIONED BY THE POLICE ABOUT A CRIME WITHOUT AN ATTORNEY!!! Your son has the right to REFUSE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS and should, WHETHER OR NOT HE DID ANYTHING WRONG. The criminal justice system is inherently adversarial and the police are not there to "clear" your son - they are adversarial to him. That they want a voice stress test shows that they do not believe your son and are looking to marshal more evidence against him. My STRONG SUGGESTION is that your son "lawyer's up" immediately, and this way the police cannot question him further.

Do not do this test. Your son is giving evidence against himself and the police will use this against him. If your son did not leave the house on the day in question, then can family members help him establish an alibi defense? Hire a criminal defense lawyer immediately and do not allow your son to talk to police.

Your son has an absolute right to refuse any test or any questions. My advice is to invoke that right. Bottom line, this Detective thinks your son is guilty and they only thing he wants is enough support for his position to close the case. This is not TV, the cops do not ever work to prove someone did not do something, they form an opinion and they work to support that opinion. You would be well advised to get a lawyer sooner rather than later.

Your son has not yet been charged but may be charged with a crime in the near future. Once charged, a warrant will issue. Your son has the right to an attorney and to not answer any questions unless his attorney is present. Robbery is a serious crime with possible time to serve in prison. He would be well served by having legal representation even at this early juncture.

Your son has no obligation to speak with police or to allow them to acquire evidence through testing. You should politely decline and retain experienced legal counsel to handle further inquiries.

First of all, he cannot be compelled to take a voice stress test or a polygraph test. Those are tools the police use to attempt to extract a confession or to justify not prosecuting. You son should not talk to the police anymore until you have hired a lawyer and consulted with him/her.

He has the right to remain silent. If he gives up that right anything he says may be used against him.

The detective is trying to identify your son as the perpetrator. They must have some type of recording of the offender. Generally, it is not recommended to talk to the police. Sometimes a lawyer can find out if it is wise, because the lawyer can ascertain whether the client is being eliminated as suspect. However, you should not go this road without an attorney.

No one has to talk to the police. They aren't trying to clear your son by any means. They are trying to get evidence against him. No need to make their job easier. See if they can get enough evidence to charge your son or you can get a lawyer involved now if it makes you feel better.

Your son's right is to remain silent. You should absolutely refuse the detective's request. In fact, he should NEVER say anything more to anyone except a lawyer. The more your son speaks, the more he will incriminate himself. Remember, incrimination has nothing to do with guilt or innocence. Cops are experts at twisting words around and making something stick.

Your son is under no obligation to cooperate with the police. He is certainly a person of interest to the police and maybe a prime suspect. At this point he should exercise his constitutional right to remain silent. If the police take him into custody or arrest him he should say nothing and ask for an attorney. If the police have focused on him there is nothing he can say that will change their minds. If they insist on talking to him then they probably do not have sufficient evidence to arrest him. Any statements made by him will be used against him. At this point he is giving away his defense to the case by communicating with the police and allowing the police to fashion a response to his statements or use them against him. He should consider retaining an attorney who can discuss issues with the police. The attorney can decide if cooperation with the police is warranted. Good luck.

The police are required to conduct a thorough investigation. It appears that your son is a suspect and the police are investigating the lead. Even if your son is innocent, mechanical tests can and do show false positives. I advise my clients to not take these types of tests due to the possible inaccuracies. Have your son provide the police with his alibi.

Without being flippant, "he has the right to remain silent..." Hire a lawyer, share your alibi defense, and persuade the Detective to leave him alone.

You should retain a good criminal attorney and have have him investigate the case. You only know what your son told you, not what happened. An attorney can properly advise you on how to proceed and what to do in such matters.

He has a right to say no thank you. I would advise him to do just that, contact police detective and say I have nothing else to say.

Do not speak with the detective or any law enforcement agent without an attorney present. You cannot reason with the police in these instances and to try to do so may compromise your son's defense. You should retain a criminal defense attorney to deal with the matter. If your evidence is strong, and it sounds like it is, the police should be able to figure out he didn't commit the crime. Your son has the right to remain silent. Invoking this right cannot be used against him. He has the right to have an attorney present during questioning. He should exercise this right. The police cannot force him to talk. The police will use anything he or anyone else says against him. Silence is golden.

Your son has the right to remain silent, he has the right to an attorney before any questioning, he has the right to have his attorney present at any questioning, he has the right to a hearing telling him what he is charged with, he has the right to a trial, he has a right to a jury to judge him at the trial. There is no undisputable scientific evidence that a statement made under voice stress analyzer test or lie detector test can be shown to be true or false. Do not let your son take that test. Tell the police that your son will not answer any questions or make any statements without his attorney present. Police are taught to lie during an interview to get the response they want from a suspect. You can stop all this by asking that your attorney be present. Consult now with an attorney. Show him your hospital discharge papers and take instruction from him. Do not believe the police when they say only a guilty person needs an attorney. That too is a lie.

Talk to a criminal attorney immediately. It is rarely in his best interest to deal with the authorities without legal help.

I think that your son has cooperated enough. He should tell the police that he wants a lawyer present at any further questioning.

Your son has a right to decline to participate or to answer questions. Even if he's not in custody and read his rights, he can still choose to not make any statement. If they have enough to arrest him, they will, no matter what he says. He's already said enough. Now, they want him to do a Voice Stress Analyzer. That's one step shy of a lie detector and equally unreliable. He's implicated in a robbery. This a serious felony that can carry years in state prison. He should discuss the entire situation with a criminal defense attorney before answering any more questions or participating in any police procedures. This is not a do-it-yourself project.

A voice stress test is not evidence which can be used in court at a trial, and I see no reason why he should undergo one. Besides, he has a right to remain silent during any such test, under the fifth amendment of the US Constitution. I would advise you to retain counsel to communicate this to the police.

Your son has the right to refuse to cooperate with the police. However, if he has reached his sixteenth birthday he can be questioned without you being present. Once they get a hold of him alone, there is no telling what they will do or say to get him to incriminate himself. There are many cases where people have confessed to crimes they did not commit as a result of psychological and physical pressure by the police. Robbery is a serious charge, even if he has an airtight alibi. Get a lawyer right away.

Your son should not speak to the police nor give a 'voice stress analyzer test'. Furthermore, you should look into hiring an attorney to represent your son before criminal charges are actually filed. Even though your son is not being charged the actual robbery; accomplice liability holds the same consequences. Driving a friend to dispose of evidence is considered accomplice liability.

Absolutely not! Do not take anything or even give a statement. Hire an attorney in your county to fight for you. The cops are not your friend and will not listen to you. Be smart and hire an attorney asap. Use your right to remain silent in the mean time.

Your son has no obligation to submit to a voice stress analyzer (lie detector). In fact he has no obligation to speak with the investigating officer. I would suggest that he not speak with the officer. Your son may well have a viable alibi defense. A defense attorney would like to investigate the possibility of an alibi before the police do so. Remember, your son is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Your son is not obligated to prove his innocence.

Your son does not have to do as the detective requests. The detective will proceed with his investigation independent of what your son does and doesn't do. If there is probable cause that your son was involved, he could be arrested and/or charged. My advice: seek out the services of an attorney because even innocent people are sometimes charged.

He has the right to remain silent and he should. He has the right to speak with an attorney and have the attorney present during questioning and he should Voice stress analyzers and polygraph tests are horrendously unreliable and rarely helpful to a criminal suspect. The police could simply tell your son he failed and use that as a wedge to open him wide open to confession. Don't do it. Starting now, tell the detective that your son will not make any further statements or submit to questioning. Hire an attorney and inform the detective that you will not speak with him or her without your attorney present. No good can come from any suspect telling the police his side of the story. The only safe way to speak with law enforcement as a suspect is through an attorney. Bear in mind that anything your son says will be repeated in court. What isn't said cannot be repeated.

Giving a lie detector test is a technique used by the police to coerce a confession. Usually the police will tell the suspect that he failed the test. Your son needs a lawyer for his protection. It would appear that the police do not feel that their proofs are that strong. You should give me a call or, at least call some lawyer to help your son.

Your son is protected by the fifth amendment such that he cannot be compelled to give statements or testimony against himself unless he first waives that right. The detectives cannot force him to answer any questions or submit to any testing unless he agrees to it. He should definitely consult with an experienced defense attorney before agreeing to speak to any detectives.

Your son is not obligated to talk to the police at all, and is certainly not required to do the voice stress test (which can be not very accurate). If I were advising your son I would tell him to stop talking to the police, tell them if they decide to charge him with something to let him know and he'll turn himself in, but otherwise the police should stop contacting him.

1. Your son has the absolute right to remain silent. He is NOT obligated to give any kind of statement to the police; especially when he is suspected of having committed a crime. 2. Do NOT let him meet with the police!! The officer has probably decided your son is involved and is looking for evidence to suport his case. 3. Hire a criminal defense attorney for your son NOW, preferably some time tomorrow. 4. On NO account should your son agree to any stress test, polygraph test, or any other test.

Your son has the right to ignore the detective, unless he is selling tickets to the policemen's ball. He should keep his mouth shut.

Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT consent to take a voice stress analyzer test or any further questioning by the police. The voice stress analyzer test is NOT real science- it is a dirty trick used by cops to con people into confessing. After he takes it, they will tell him he failed, no matter what it actually says. (They will then try to tell him that the computer proves he is guilty and try to convince him that the only thing he can do to help himself is to confess.) CALL A LAWYER IMMEDIATELY, and do not consent to any further questions from the police. They may threaten to arrest him. If they do, understand that it was always their plan to do so anyway, and NOTHING he could say would help him prevent that. The only thing you can do is hire a good lawyer.

He has the right to tell the cop "no comment".

Your son cannot be forced to take any tests and not only should not take the test but should not be talking to the police. The state will charge him if they have enough evidence. Don't help them build their case by speaking with them or cooperating with them. They do not have his interests in mind.

Don't do it, your son has an absolute right against self-incrimination with any statements that are being made.

You have the right to tell the officer/detective not to bother you unless and until he has a warrant for your son's arrest. The warrant requires probable cause. If he has that he will arrest your son with or without the stress test. If he does not have it the stress test might indicate culpability on the part of your son and encourage the officer/detective to continue harassing your boy. You say your son was just discharged from the hospital when this incident occurred. Do you mean he was discharged the very day this theft happened and because he was recuperating he stayed in all night and never left your home? If so, tell the detective that and to leave you alone unless and until. You do not have to be nice or sociable with law enforcement and - believe me on this - they aren't your friend. They come on "buddy-buddy" to get a suspect to confide in them and then use whatever they hear to stab the speaker in the back. Tell them nothing unless forced to due to legal proceedings - he needs a warrant.

In order to protect your son's rights, you should immediately hire an attorney. Whenever the police seek to speak to him he can remain silent and ask to speak to his attorney and can call his attorney and ask that his attorney be present for questioning. You should speak to and hire an attorney right away. Almost any attorney will advise to NOT take any sort of polygraph or voice stress test nor to even speak to the police again.

Your son doesn't need to take a voice stress analysis or anything else but I am afraid the cop might then arrest him claiming he has enough evidence to do so. You would be better off getting yourself a good criminal lawyer who practices in those local courts.

Your son has an absolute right not to take part in the voice stress test. His best bet is to get a lawyer who can deal with the cop so your son doesn't have to.