Ask Howard Treesong About Law or Lawyering

[Howard Treesong]

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HT,

Long time no talk, how the heck are ya??

1. If you're arrested or brought in for questioning for something you didn't do, how long before you should ask for your lawyer?

2. Same question, but you DID do it.

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On (2), immediately. Prosecutors cannot be trusted to be objective, and you must assume the worst. On (1), I would personally retain counsel immediately for any kind of felony. I would like to think that being up-front with prosecutors is the right move, but Nifong is a good counterexample to that: he simply didn't care that the lacrosse team just didn't commit any crimes. Dealing with that on your own is really tricky, so I'd only try dealing with it on my own if the downside were pretty minor.