You have a number of very important protections with respect to being a criminal defendant. The first protection you have is the Fourth Amendment, which says that you have an absolute right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The key word there is unreasonable. As a general rule, if the police want to enter your home and search it they can’t do that unless you give them consent, which you should not do or if they have a search warrant. Now if the police have a search warrant, by all means let them in, do not give them a hard time. That’s the first protection is the Fourth Amendment.

The next protection you have is the Fifth Amendment, and by the way, these amendments that I’m talking about come from the Bill of Rights. The most important right I think any person has if they’re being investigated by law enforcement or the government is actually the Fifth Amendment and that is your absolute right to remain silent. And I cannot stress that enough. If you are being investigated by the government, if you’re being investigated by a detective or the police do not talk to them. You have an absolute right to remain silent and nobody can hold that against you. You also have a right during any questioning to have an attorney present.

With respect to other rights; the Sixth Amendment, with respect to the Sixth Amendment you have a right to have an attorney present with you at all court proceedings and any questioning that the police may want of you. Insist on that right. Insist on having an attorney with you. That attorney’s job is to protect your rights and he or she will do so.

The next right that you have is believe it or not, is the Eighth Amendment and the Eighth Amendment talks about the right against cruel and unusual punishment and the right to have bail. You have those rights under the Eighth Amendment those should be exercised as well. You cannot be punished; you cannot be punished above and beyond what the law allows.