Criminal Conviction May Be Pursued Based upon Information in Book
Oct. 9, 2015
Criminal defense attorneys frequently advise their clients not to give statements to the police because those statements can be used to convict the person of a criminal charge. It should go without saying that if making statements to the police is not a good idea, then putting them into a book and publishing it has got to be one of the worst ideas ever.
A woman described as a former prostitute and madam collaborated on a book detailing part of her life in which she claims to have supplied prostitutes, including underage children, to help recruit basketball players to a Kentucky university. Prosecutors are reading her book to determine if they can prosecute the woman for the crimes to which she confessed in the book.
Apparently written without consulting with a criminal attorney, the book contains quotations from the former madam in which she admits to using her three daughters to provide sexual favors to the recruits. Unfortunately for her, one of her daughters was under 18 years of age at the time. It is a felony to promote prostitution in which the prostitute is a minor.
Making statements to the police can provide them with information that can be used as evidence in a criminal case to obtain a conviction against you. Thinking that statements written into a book are somehow protected from the reach of prosecutors could end up costing this woman her freedom if prosecutors follow through on their pledge to investigate to locate corroborating evidence to back up the claims made in the book.
The penalties for a felony conviction can be harsh and severe. Imprisonment is usually the sentence recommended by prosecutors when a person is charged with a sex crime in which the victim is a child.
You may think you know your rights when questioned by the police, but there are many legal ways in which police can obtain a statement from you without violating any of your rights under the Constitution. A Bowling Green attorney can be a good source of criminal defense information, including how to conduct yourself when police as you for a statement.
Source: WHAS, “Potential legal consequences for ‘Breaking Cardinal Rules,’” Michaela MacDonald, Oct 5, 2015