h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Cool by me!

My point on the uk caution
"You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence."

is the 'may' bit and 'do not have to'

surely they are mutually exclusive and oxymoronic?

I don't understand the second part so I'll stick with the first and third, not say anything and claim I don't understand the middle bit. This will get me out of it. You see what I mean?

Z.

It looks to me like y'all don't have the same right to remian silent as we do. In the US, if you stand don't want to say anything to the police, no inference can be drawn later.

The wording of the caution seems to indicate that you the British prosecutors can impeach your testimony at trial by saying asking, "Why didn't you say this to the police?"

Did I make the right guess? In America that would be an automatic mistrial.

On the other hand, it is the impression we try and give people. I tell people that I just want to hear their side of the story. Which is true. I don't care if they lie or tell the truth. I don't care if it implicates them or exonrates them. I just want to lock in some kind of statement.

Technically, the police are supposed to be neutral finders of facts. It generally starts out that way, but by the end of the case we generally belive we know who's guilty, and we want to prosecute them.

Once we have statement, regardless of waht it says, it's valuable. If the person changes their story later, it can be used to impeach them. If they make admisssions, those can be used. If it can help show their innocene and give us a new direction to go, I've had that happen too.

You're right they did remove our right to silence and try and infer guilt if we were/are!

The point I was making was from the suspect still being able to remain silent in the uk, at least until the trial by claiming not too understand the caution!

Do you see what I mean now that it isn't readily understandable?

Z.

I admit, I didn't understand it when I first read it. That second line is little strange. When I first read it I was thinking it was the rough equivlent of our warning: "Anything you say can and will be sued aagianst you in a court of law." Then after I read it a couple of times, I saw what it actually meant.

I don't know if I'd rely on your strategy getting you off. You're reasonably intelligent. You're a subject of the nation, and you're reasonably awere of your nations laws. You know that your laws are not as forgiving as ours.