homeWelcome, sign in or click here to subscribe.login
     


 

 

Real Estate


print  email to a friend  reprints add to mydjc  
Andrew Bergh
Andrew Bergh

July 16, 1998

Don't like cops? Can't lie? Then avoid a life of crime

By ANDREW BERGH
Special to the Journal

If you're considering a life of crime, here's some free advice.

First of all, you've got to like cops. That's right, actually enjoy their company. I know that sounds crazy, but police officers are a suspicious lot, and you'll only draw attention to yourself if you get nervous and act uptight around them.

Second, stare the police dead in the eye when talking to them. Avoid shifty looks. Think of it this way: zero eye contact, zero credibility.

Third, and this is especially important, you've got to be able to think fast on your feet. Plausibly stretch the truth on a moment's notice. Lie with the best of them. Otherwise, you'll find yourself saying the stupidest things even during the most casual of interrogations --and the next thing you know, you'll be calling your favorite bail bondsman.

Although I'm not speaking from personal experience, I don't need to. Not when case studies like U.S. v. Thomas abound. That particular case is a perfect example of how getting sweaty around the cops and being a lousy liar is one bad combo.

Gerald Thomas is the amateur drug dealer who provides the "how not to" lessons.

One fine morning in March, three federal narcotics officers went to Midway Airport in Chicago in response to a hot tip. They were told a black male wearing a jacket with the letters USA on the back had paid cash for a one-way ticket from Los Angeles to Chicago. They were also told the man had been evasive with the ticket agent and appeared nervous.

When the flight arrived, the officers watched the disembarking passengers and found Thomas to be the only one fitting the description. Thomas, who looked around repeatedly as he walked through the airport, bought a cup of coffee and then went to the baggage area to pick up his suitcase.

The officers approached Thomas as he neared an exit. One of them, Carlos Mostek, identified himself, displayed his credentials, and asked Thomas if he was willing to talk. Thomas said okay.

It didn't take long for Thomas to start digging a hole for himself.

Thomas volunteered that he'd lived in Los Angeles his entire life and that he was in Chicago for a few weeks to visit his mother and sisters. So far so good. Although the volunteering part was dumb, the fact that Thomas had always lived in Los Angeles doesn't mean his mom and siblings couldn't decide later on to move to Chicago. But when Mostek asked about the timing of his mother's move, Thomas said she had always lived in Chicago.

Okay, let's give Thomas the benefit of the doubt. Maybe his parents separated shortly after birth and he moved from Chicago to Los Angeles with his father. But when Mostek inquired about the timing of his move to Los Angeles, Thomas blurted out that he'd gone to school in Chicago -- thus contradicting his earlier statement about living in Los Angeles his whole life. To make matters worse, when asked if he was born in Chicago, Thomas said Mississippi was his place of birth.

During this brief encounter, the officers noticed Thomas was extremely nervous and made no eye contact with them. Moreover, he was breathing heavily and his hands were shaking so badly that he almost spilled his coffee. Not good form.

At this point, Mostek explained that he and his partners were narcotics investigators at the airport and that they regularly stopped travelers who might be carrying illegal drugs. When Thomas refused to consent to a search of his suitcase, the officer told him he was free to go but that his bag would be detained temporarily until it got sniffed for drugs by a police dog. Evidently still shaken, Thomas said he was going to be picked up by someone but then climbed into the first available cab.

Funny thing, the suitcase flunked the sniff test. After obtaining a search warrant, the police found a kilogram of cocaine inside the bag. Thomas was soon arrested and later prosecuted for felony drug charges in federal district court.

Defenseless, Thomas moved to suppress the cocaine on the ground that his detention occurred without "reasonable suspicion." When the trial court disagreed, his appeal followed.

But Thomas got no help at the next level. Given the sum of the circumstances, said the appeals court, Mostek and his fellow officers had a reasonable suspicion about the lawfulness of Thomas's activities. While Thomas's nervousness was a factor, said the court, his contradictory answers to simple questions about his family, residence and the purpose of his trip were especially incriminating.

To rehash things, it's important to remain cool and calm if you want to succeed in crime. If cops make you nervous, go to their favorite off-duty watering holes and get used to being around them. Simulate interrogations with your friends. And develop pat but believable answers to foreseeable questions.

Unlike Gerald Thomas, you don't want to provide probable cause whenever you open your mouth.


Seattle lawyer Andrew Bergh, a former prosecutor and insurance defense attorney, now limits his practice to plaintiff's personal injury cases. He fields questions via email at andy@berghlaw.com.


Previous columns:



Email or user name:
Password:
 
Forgot password? Click here.