▶ Watch: Changing Your Story Can Hurt You Later
Memory does not work like a recording. It is reconstructive, and it is badly degraded by stress — which is exactly the condition someone is in when police are questioning them. Honest, innocent people routinely get times, distances, sequences, and who-said-what wrong.
Here is the problem. When a second statement doesn't match the first, nobody in the system calls it a memory problem. It gets called an inconsistency, and at trial it gets called a lie. A prosecutor stands in front of a jury, puts the two statements side by side, and asks why the story changed. It does not matter that the underlying truth never changed. What the jury sees is a person whose account moved.
I know how effective that is because I used to do it. As a former Chief Prosecutor, inconsistent statements were among the most useful things a case could hand me — and they were almost always volunteered, not extracted.
This is the practical reason behind advice that sounds cold: stop talking and ask for a lawyer. Not because you have something to hide, and not because you're being difficult. Because every additional statement is another opportunity for an honest mistake to be permanently frozen into the record and used against you months later. You cannot un-give a statement. This applies to police interviews, and it applies just as much to recorded jail phone calls.
If you've been arrested or think you're under investigation in Conroe, The Woodlands, or anywhere in Montgomery or Harris County, talk to a lawyer before you talk to anyone else. Request a free, confidential consultation or call or text (936) 596-0407.
For litigants who do not have counsel: Reading this blog post does not create an attorney-client relationship. Call to set up a free consultation.
For the general public: This blog is for educational purposes only and provides general information, not specific legal advice. By using this site you confirm that there is no attorney-client relationship created.