What To Do if Under Investigation
Question: What Should I Do If I Believe I Am Under Investigation For A Sex Crime In Wisconsin?
Answer: People sometimes hear through the grapevine that they are being investigated for a sexual assault. Sometimes it comes in the form of a call from social service – they want to talk to you. Sometimes it comes because your ex tells you can’t see the children. Sometimes it comes because you learn from a friend that the police have been knocking on doors around you. However you learn of it, the way not to handle it is to pick up the phone and call the investigating agency and say, “I hear you’re investigating me. I’d like to talk to you about that.” That is not the way to handle it.
There is a very similar way to handle it, and that’s to get a lawyer who has done this before who does just that for you: runs interference, finds out what’s going on, contacts all the appropriate authorities while counseling you to be quiet and wait for the time for you to tell your side. Now the reason that’s important is because anything you say might become a building block in a case, a false case, against you. So if you find out you’re under investigation, you need to get a hold of somebody who has handled these. And the people, the lawyers, who tell you, “Well just sit back and wait and see if anything comes of it,” turn and run like hell away from those people because they’re not the right lawyer.
You need somebody who is going to be proactive, step up, contact the investigators, contact the DA, contact social services and basically give you a protective bubble against saying anything that would hurt you. Because you might be guilty of something, you might be guilty of nothing, but trust me: they’ll believe you’re guilty of everything.
