Does Silence Mean Guilty as Charged?

Answer 1

Silence before arrest, like not giving a statement? Silence as in letting your attorney do the talking? Silence when receiving the judgement, good or bad?

That's just plain smart!!! If police are called to any situation, any decent defense attorney will tell you to keep your mouth shut no matter who did what to whom. You could be totallly innocent, and still get arrested. Anything you say can and will be used against you. It's up to the professionalism and experience and general mood of the arresting officer as to what they charge you with, or don't. Then you have the judge basing most of his opinion on what the cop said.

"Regular" people who believe they live good, clean lives which make them above the law are the people who are hysterical and argumentative and go nuts when the cops start questioning THEM after an incident. When trying to get some help for an older woman being released after three decades in prison, I once had a sanctimonious church lady tell me: "I'm not praying for her! I don't put myself in a situation where I can have law trouble." That didn't stop her teenaged daughter from getting in trouble, and that same lady has hated her former friends the cops ever since.

This same person, and people like her, are the ones who bury themselves with their mouth during the arrest, and make things much worse for themselves or kids, and later, their attorney :-)

So, in respect to your question, I personally think most people that keep their mouth shut around cops and judges have already had experience with our judicial system. That doesn't mean they are guilty of the crime under scrutiny, but that either they or someone they know have had prior arrest experience. Or else they are married to a good defense attorney :-)

Answer 2

That depends on where you live. In the US, a jury may not draw any inference from your silence, so it cannot be used to convict you. In Britain, the jury may conclude from your silence that you have something to hide. And in France, you are assumed guilty and must prove your innocence.

Answer 3

It is the person who cheers who is guilty. They do this as they feel like they got away with it. People who are innocent tend to hold in their emotion as relief.

***I would like to add that the person below me has a great answer. I took it more with sentencing then with an arrest.

My Dad is a judge and told me about this.

Answer 4

No.