Keep Your Mouth Shut

When it comes to run-ins with the law, court appearances, motor vehicle accidents and personal injuries, there are four simple words to keep in mind: Keep Your Mouth Shut. 

What you say can be misinterpreted and used against you. 

Doing something as simple as saying, “I’m sorry” at the scene of an accident can be construed by the other side as an admission of guilt. If you’ve been injured and an insurance adjuster calls, and asks how you’re feeling, and you quite innocently say, “I’m fine,” that could be noted in your file. It could also be raised in court and used against you if you are seeking financial damages for physical injuries from an accident. If you say “I’m fine,” that could reduce your compensation. 

Your best bet is to hire an attorney from the law office of Phillips & Millman to advocate on your behalf.

Attorneys Frank Phillips and Jeffrey Millman, as well as their team, are well versed in legal nuance and they know what to say and what not to say. There can be a lot at risk if you’re headed to court, financially and otherwise. So you need to let the experts do the talking for you. 

When it comes to Criminal Law, the  U.S. Constitution should be kept in mind. 

The Fifth Amendment says:

“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

Remember that, under the law, you can’t be compelled to be a witness against yourself

And now for the Sixth Amendment, which reads: 

“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.”

Yes, you read that right. The law guarantees your right to legal representation. So don’t forfeit that guarantee, during criminal legal proceedings’, by opening your mouth when you should be keeping it shut. 

A particular old adage seems most appropriate here, the one that, despite wide belief, neither Abraham Lincoln nor Mark Twain was the first to utter: "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt."