Item: Law Office of Param S. Pabla
Rating: 5
Author: Gurpreet

A Sacramento Criminal Defense Lawyer on Your Right to Counsel

A criminal charge is serious business, and you will need a strong and dedicated Sacramento criminal defense lawyer to help. You may find trouble or trouble may find you. Whatever the situation, you should know your rights, including the Fifth Amendment, which establishes your right to an attorney once you are charged with any offenses.

Asking for Your Attorney to Be Present

As a Sacramento criminal defense lawyer can tell you, you can ask for an attorney when you are going to be interrogated. Once you ask for representation, police can’t ask you any other questions until your counsel arrives. If police approach you after this and your attorney is not present, any statements you make, including a confession, will be deemed forced and would not be admitted at your trial.

You should keep in mind that your Fifth Amendment right to an attorney is not specific to an offense, unlike the right afforded to a person with the Sixth Amendment. A Sacramento criminal defense lawyer can tell you this means that asking for an attorney prohibits other officers investigating a different case other than the one you just were arrested for from asking any questions. This is the case even if those officers didn’t know you asked for an attorney. In a nutshell, police can’t ask you about any crime without an attorney present.

The Courts and the Fifth Amendment

Many courts have found that authorities only need to honor a person’s right to counsel as it relates to Miranda when a person is in police custody and being questioned. In addition, a Sacramento criminal defense attorney can tell you the U.S. Supreme Court has found that an attorney stating he is a person’s representation isn’t enough to invoke a person’s right to counsel protections. It is best to carry your lawyer’s business card with you. If you are ever in trouble, you can tell police you don’t want to answer any questions without your lawyer and then present the card.

Contact a Sacramento Criminal Defense Lawyer for Assistance

A person’s right to counsel under the Fifth Amendment is critical to a case. If you were arrested and are facing criminal charges, call Param Pabla, a Sacramento criminal defense attorney, at (916) 285-7900.

★★★★★

“Mr. Pabla represented me with my DUI case. He has excellent communication skills and always kept me informed. Mr. Pabla made sure I understood the process and my rights. He eased my mind through a very stressful situation. I highly recommend Mr. Pabla.” Gurpreet

“I am so happy with the service that I received from Param S. Pabla. Jarrett did a great job solving my legal issue and I can’t recommend him enough! He was able to do everything quickly, painlessly, and was ALWAYS available to talk when I needed him. If I ever need help again, I will definitely use him!" Boris

“Param was excellent in my court case of failure to stop at a stop sign. The officer could not see clearly because he was too far away. The officer insisted he could and said he had video but could not produce it at the trial. The officer then asked if he could suspend the trial to go get the video but the judge said he should have had plenty of time to get the video ready beforehand. Needless to say, the judge ruled in my favor and dismissed the case which enraged the officer. Pabla Param’s defense and cross examination skills were excellent and paramount in having the case dismissed. Highly recommended.” T.C.

“My husband and I needed to update everything -family trust, will, medical stuff. Param was really patient -answering all my questions -even when I asked them twice. He wanted to be sure I understood everything we were doing. All docs were sent to us so we could go through them on our own time before anything was finalized. I also liked when we were looking at medical stuff that he had a conversation with me about what I wanted and pointed out some things I didn’t think of.” Debbie

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