Talking in the US context. The Miranda warning says anything you say can be used against you in a court of law but never to support your case. So as I see it talking to the cops makes no sense irrespective of whether you have committed a crime or not. So why do suspects sit for hours long interviews with the cops?
Edit:- “… never to support your case”. As some commenters pointed out the Miranda warning doesn’t say that. That’s right, I meant it in an implicit way. I just saw a defense attorney’s YT video who said that’s the hidden part.
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To quote the late George Carlin:
“Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”
Most people don’t have the self-control or intelligence to control themselves in such a situation. Combine that with drugs, alcohol, and/or mental illness and you have a recipe for a disaster. Police also use psychological tactics including white-lies and many times outright lies to make you think they are your friend. “If you just tell me what you know about what happened I can make this a lot easier for you”. No. Absolutely not. They can’t help you, they don’t want to help you, and they won’t help you. But they will put you in a situation where you feel it’s your best interest to just appease and diffuse the situation when really all you can do to help yourself is to STFU. Even talking to the cops as a witness can put you in danger.
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