The procedure for interrogating the accused and suspect: assistance of a lawyer

In criminal proceedings, the accused and the suspect occupy a special position. They are not required by law to testify. The investigator must convince the accused (suspect) that truthful testimony does not worsen his situation, that sincere repentance and active assistance in solving the crime in accordance with the law mitigate his responsibility and are an active form of his defense, that the true circumstances of the case will still be established, and denial and lies are meaningless and will only worsen his situation (clause “and” part 1 of article 61, article 64 of the Criminal Code). Depending on the specific situation in the criminal case and the personality of the interrogated, the investigator must optimally use other humane provisions contained in the law. The effectiveness of the interrogation of the accused (suspect) depends on the professional qualities, knowledge, and experience of the investigator. Even in the event of a conflict situation, it is necessary, first of all, to take measures to establish psychological contact with the interrogated person, and then use other, more effective tactics that correspond to the specific situation and personality of the accused (suspect).

The testimony of the accused (suspect) is the usual evidence in the case; they are checked and evaluated in conjunction with all the materials of the case. However, from the testimony of the accused (suspect), it is possible to obtain factual data that is often impossible to obtain from other sources. These participants in the proceedings know better than anyone else the circumstances of the crime.

According to Part 1 of Art. 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the investigator is obliged to interrogate the accused immediately after charges are brought against him, and the suspect - no later than 24 hours from the moment of his actual arrest (Part 2 of Article 46 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). The testimony of the accused (suspect) is not only a source of evidence, but also a means of defense; he does not bear criminal liability for refusing to testify or for giving knowingly false testimony. The interrogation of these persons is carried out with the participation of a defense lawyer.

During the interrogation of the accused and suspect, general provisions of interrogation tactics are used, as well as specific tactics. The investigator’s use of certain tactical techniques during the interrogation of the accused and suspect depends on the position they occupy and the current investigative situation. Due to the fact that they often take a negative position and deny their guilt, conflict situations arise during the interrogation when the accused give testimony that is completely false, partially false, or even refuse to testify at all.

In the case when the suspect fully confirms the correctness of the suspicion that has arisen against him, and the accused admits himself fully guilty of the charge, conflict-free situations arise during interrogation. Tactical techniques in this case should be aimed at obtaining sufficiently complete and accurate readings. However, it should be borne in mind that the interrogation in this favorable situation should be carried out as carefully and in detail as when the interrogated deny their guilt. It is not the confession itself that is important, but information about the facts and circumstances that correspond to reality. The confession should not disorient the investigator and reduce his activity in searching for evidence.

Some apparently conflict-free situations are in reality supposedly conflict-free. The suspect and the accused create a similar situation in order to deceive the investigator, so that he loses his vigilance and reduces tactical activity, does not look for objective evidence confirming their confession, which they intend to refuse at the trial. In addition, an ostensibly conflict-free situation makes it possible for the accused (suspects) to hide episodes and accomplices of criminal acts not yet known to the investigation, since many investigators and operatives limit themselves to what has been achieved and complete the investigation.

During the interrogation of the accused, testimony must be obtained on each point of the charge. He may be asked questions related to the case or his personality. In order to verify the testimony, it is advisable to ask control questions. The accused (suspect) and the defense lawyer have the right to submit petitions and present evidence. Data from the preliminary investigation, the disclosure of which is undesirable and could cause damage to the investigation, should not be disclosed to the defense attorney and the interrogated person.

If a conflict situation arises, all information provided by the person being interrogated must be recorded in detail in the protocol. In this situation, the question-and-answer form of interrogation is especially effective. In order to obtain truthful testimony, emotional influence techniques can be used, as well as tactics such as:

creating the impression of increased awareness of the investigator regarding the event;
encouragement to repent;
explaining the positive consequences of a sincere confession of guilt;
appeal to the positive personality traits of the person being interrogated;
presentation of evidence incriminating him of committing a crime (the investigator chooses the order of presentation of evidence based on the situation and behavior of the accused), etc.

In the process of proof, including during interrogation, the results of operational investigative activities may be used in accordance with the provisions of Part 2 of Art. 11 of the Law on operational activity. The use of the results of operational investigative activities, if they do not meet the requirements for evidence under the criminal procedure law (Article 89 of the Code of Criminal Procedure), is strictly prohibited. Therefore, the investigator must skillfully transform the operational data he receives into procedural evidence. The interrogation of the accused (suspects) in this regard provides the investigator with great opportunities, since by skillfully maneuvering operational information, he receives the necessary testimony from the interrogated, which acquires the status of evidence and at the same time expands the tactical capabilities of the investigation to search for new evidence that confirms (refutes) the established circumstances of the case, revealing disguised episodes of crimes and still unknown accomplices.

During the interrogation, the investigator must take measures to ensure that secret sources of operational intelligence information are not disclosed. Therefore, before interrogating the accused (suspect), he seeks to interrogate persons about whom there is information in operational documents (certificates, messages, etc.) and obtain the necessary testimony from them.

It is necessary to explain to the accused who refuses to testify that refusal to testify is not an obstacle to the continuation of the investigation, and that he thereby deprives himself of the opportunity to defend himself against the charges brought against him. If the accused names motives, they must be indicated in the protocol.

There are many similarities in the interrogation tactics of the accused and the suspect. During their interrogation, as a rule, the same conflict and non-conflict situations arise. To expose these persons in lies, the same techniques are usually used. The main difference in interrogation tactics is due to their different procedural position and the fact that there is usually less evidence regarding the suspect. These circumstances determine the predominantly intelligence nature of

interrogation of a suspect, while interrogation of an accused, which is carried out in a conflict situation, is predominantly
offensive in nature
.

In accordance with the law, the suspect is told what crime he is suspected of committing. In contrast to the decision to bring charges, the formulation of suspicion may be of a general nature. The investigator is not obliged to inform the suspect in detail about the nature of the crime committed, and this allows him to more freely maneuver the available information, including operational information, as well as ask questions of an intelligence nature.

Most tactics are equally applicable to the interrogation of both the accused and the suspect. At the same time, the tactics of interrogating a suspect have a number of features. When interrogating a suspect, you should always remember that his suspicion of committing a crime may turn out to be erroneous, that sometimes the very fact of detention can break his will and the suspect may incriminate himself.

If the suspect and the accused give false testimony, then during the interrogation conflict situations arise in which it is necessary to use tactics and present evidence that incriminates them in a lie. However, the suspect should only be presented with evidence that is sufficient to support suspicion of the crime he has committed. It is better not to present other evidence that relates to circumstances that expand the scope of suspicion at this stage in order to facilitate the establishment of psychological contact and not allow the suspect to withdraw into himself.

During the first interrogation, you should refrain from presenting to the suspect such important evidence, facts that can be used by him and his defense attorney for the purpose of creating an alibi, falsification, or made public in the media or in any other way.

The procedure for interrogating an accused (suspect) according to the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation

Before starting the interrogation, the investigator must verify the identity of the person being interrogated, i.e. check the passport or other identification document of the person to be interrogated.
The investigator explains to the person his rights and responsibility for refusing to testify and for giving knowingly false testimony. ATTENTION: a person has the right not to testify against himself, his spouse and close relatives, to whom the procedural code includes parents, children, adoptive parents, adopted children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren.
In a situation where a person is a foreigner, the investigator finds out whether the person speaks Russian and whether he needs an interpreter.
The investigator himself chooses the interrogation tactics. ATTENTION: the investigator is prohibited from asking leading questions. Most often, interrogation consists of questions from the investigator to the person to which the person being interrogated gives answers.
During the interrogation, the interrogated person has the right to use documents and records. Also, a person can make some drawings, draw diagrams, which are attached to the interrogation protocol. If you don’t remember something, there is no need to guess and invent, you need to say that “I don’t remember”, “I need to look at the documents.”
During interrogation, photography, audio recording, and video recording may be made, which must be recorded in the interrogation protocol.
A witness may appear before the investigator for questioning with a lawyer, who, at the end of the questioning, has the right to make statements about violations of the rights and legitimate interests of the witness.
At the end of the interrogation, the person whose interrogation was carried out must familiarize himself with the interrogation protocol and indicate: “from my words it was written down correctly, I read it.” ATTENTION: the interrogation protocol must contain information about all actions performed during the interrogation, namely, explanation of rights, video recording, provision of material evidence, inclusion of drawn diagrams, etc.

IMPORTANT : carefully read your interrogation protocol and sign each page of the interrogation protocol. There are situations when the investigator offers to sign the interrogation protocol, but does not explain that before signing, the protocol must be read, moreover, the investigator can say: “What to read there, I wrote down (printed) everything from your words” - in this case, it is better to read the protocol twice, since the information by the investigator may be distorted or recorded in such a way that the meaning of the testimony changes. Nobody says that an investigator can deliberately distort information, but this can still happen.

ADVICE OF A LAWYER : after reading the protocol and seeing that your testimony is not recorded as you gave it, you need to write comments in the interrogation protocol itself before signing such an interrogation protocol or asking the investigator to make additions and clarifications to the protocol. Otherwise, you will not be able to prove later that you did not give such testimony.

Although in judicial practice there are cases when witnesses come to court for questioning and explain that they gave different testimony, and the investigator was told that at the trial they will still tell how it happened. BUT such cases cannot guarantee that the witness will not subsequently be brought to criminal liability for giving knowingly false testimony, because the interrogated person signed the interrogation protocol.

HEALTHY:

Tactics, features, interrogation procedure

The interrogation of the accused and the suspect is quite complicated in that the person involved rarely confesses right away; often he tries to get out of it and comes up with circumstances that justify him. The investigator is faced with the task of correctly exposing the lie and getting the real circumstances of the case to be voiced. Difficulties may arise for the following reasons:

The person involved is afraid of revenge from accomplices or relatives of the victims.
The desire to conceal the fact of committing illegal acts.
The desire to mitigate guilt or completely evade responsibility on the part of the accused or suspect.
In some cases, self-incrimination occurs when the suspect takes credit for the crimes of others because he is threatened or paid.

Tactics for exposing lies

The investigator does not have the right to use physical or moral violence. There are tactics for interrogating a suspect without violence:

By persuading the suspect or accused to tell the truth, since this is beneficial to the person under investigation.
Clarification of rights, consequences of giving false testimony.
Persuasion by demonstrating available evidence incriminating guilt.
Appeal to the positive aspects of the suspect's character.
If the interrogated person has hostile relations with his accomplices, this can be used for his own purposes, for example, by informing him that his accomplices have already confessed and pointed to him as the culprit.
Ask an unexpected question.
The use of logic that confuses the person being interrogated and exposes his lies.
Ask about small details that may not even be directly related to the case, compare them with the testimony of other witnesses and defendants
Analysis and comparison of testimonies of different persons.
Demonstration of the profitability of a deal with justice, in which the suspect can ease his fate in court.
Creating the feeling in the interrogated person that the investigation is well aware of the situation, and testimony is needed only as a formality.
The use of indirect questions that will be insignificant for the person being interrogated, but for the case can play a decisive role.
Try to force the person involved to talk at length, clarify the details in which he will certainly get confused.
Confrontation or cross-examination, such techniques will help to reveal the truth if there are several suspects, they give different testimony, or one of them is silent. In this case, a skirmish will occur between them, and the investigation will be able to obtain the necessary information.

The interrogation may also contain other tactics, which the investigator can combine at his discretion depending on the situation. It is necessary to use the factor of surprise, which may consist of the following:

A suddenly asked important question that is logically not connected with previously posed questions.
Presentation of available evidence at a time that is unexpected for the interrogated person.
Announcing investigative actions after the interrogation is over can be a bluff, the main thing is to influence the person being interrogated morally.

Video about how the interrogation takes place:

Tricks and tricks of investigators when interrogating the accused

To solve a case, the investigator may resort to tricks and tricks. In this case, we will not consider the falsification of evidence in a criminal case by the investigator.

♦ The investigator may not explain the rights to the person being interrogated or may not explain all rights.
♦ As mentioned above, he may ask to sign the interrogation protocol and actually not give the person the opportunity to read the protocol and indicate his comments in it. At the same time, the investigator can behave kindly towards the person being interrogated, which will instill trust in himself.
♦ The investigator can say that he already knows everything, that the other interrogated persons have told everything, and the interrogated person only has to tell everything. At the same time, the investigator will not specify what exactly he knows, since in reality he most likely knows nothing.
♦ There may be a situation where the investigator will give the interrogated person to sign a blank interrogation protocol form, explaining this need in order not to detain the person or for some other reasons.

ADVICE OF A LAWYER : never sign any blank forms, do not leave blank lines between the text and your signature. There should also be no empty lines in the document text.

♦ The investigator can conduct interrogations for hours, thereby exhausting the person being interrogated so that the latter already agrees to everything. ATTENTION: according to the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the interrogation of a witness can be carried out continuously for 4 hours, then a break must be taken for 1 hour. In total, the interrogation should last no more than 8 hours during the day.
♦ If a suspect is being interrogated, then the investigator may invite a so-called “pocket lawyer” to the interrogation, who will simply be present at the interrogation and nothing more, or he may also begin to persuade the person to confess everything, even if the person is not guilty of anything, saying that it will be better this way.

USEFUL : more advice from a lawyer on how to behave during a police interrogation at the link

Forced summons for questioning

If a witness ignores the need to arrive for questioning on a subpoena, the measures of procedural coercion noted in the second part of Article 111 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation will be applied to him, namely: an obligation to appear (Article 112 Part 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation), a summons (Article 113 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation) RF), or monetary penalty (Article 117 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation).

The obligation to appear is a forced delivery by intelligence officers. The basis for this coercive measure is a written order from the investigator, used for persons who deliberately evade appearing on a subpoena. When a police officer carries out a drive, the citizen is informed who and where exactly the delivery is being made. You cannot refuse, since the police will have the right to use special equipment (handcuffs) and force delivery.

The use of an obligation to appear allows the investigative authorities to achieve the effect of surprise without allowing the citizen to prepare for interrogation. The drive procedure should not be interfered with; it can be appealed after execution.

At the initial stage of interrogation, a forcibly delivered citizen must declare the absence of any notifications about the need to appear before the investigator (he did not receive a summons). Also demand the assistance of a lawyer, the right of which belongs to every citizen (Article 48 Part 1 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Article 53 Part 2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation). The investigator must indicate in writing the request for legal assistance in the interrogation record.

Interrogation without a lawyer is illegal

During interrogation, a person has the right to have the assistance of a lawyer.

A person against whom a criminal case has been initiated has the right to a lawyer from the moment the case is initiated.

At the same time, the suspect or accused may refuse a defense lawyer, and in court say that he did not refuse a defense lawyer. In such a situation, on the basis of Art. 75 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the testimony of the suspect and the accused will be considered inadmissible evidence, i.e. will not have legal force, therefore investigators always invite a lawyer in accordance with Art. 51 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, if the person has not invited his lawyer.

Thus, if the interrogation of a suspect or accused occurs without a lawyer, especially when the person did not refuse a lawyer, then this is illegal and during the consideration of the case by the court it is necessary to declare this and ask to recognize the interrogation records as inadmissible evidence.

Interrogation protocol

Read more about drawing up an interrogation protocol here >>> .

The main thing to note is that if the interrogation papers are drawn up in violation of current legislation, then such documents cannot be used as evidence in court. If the procedural rules were not followed, this may lead to the interrogation being declared illegal, and the information obtained during it having no evidentiary value.

The suspect should carefully read the text of the interrogation protocol, since his testimony will be considered full evidence, even if the suspect refused to sign the protocol.
If the testimony in the protocol is not recorded correctly, then all necessary amendments must be made to it. This is done either by the investigator or the suspect himself.

Interrogation of a minor accused

When interrogating an accused person who has not reached the age of majority, the law establishes the following features:

First of all, interrogation of a minor can only be carried out with the participation of his legal representative.
You can interrogate a minor without a break for a maximum of 2 hours, after which you should take a break for 1 hour. The total interrogation time should not exceed 4 hours per day.
When interrogating a minor, in addition to his legal representative, his defense attorney must also participate.
If the accused has not reached the age of 16, then a teacher or psychologist must participate in his interrogation. The participation of these specialists is also necessary if the person has reached the age of 16, but suffers from a mental disorder or is developmentally delayed.

Features of the event

Methods of interrogating a suspect vary among investigators, but they should not go beyond the norms presented in Chapter. 26 Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.

The law enforcement officer first of all finds out:

personal information about the citizen;
the language he speaks (if he does not know Russian, then a translator is invited).

He is also obliged to explain to the person his rights and obligations. When drawing up a protocol of interrogation, the investigator enters the date of its conduct. This should definitely be checked, since he may not do this in order to put down the date he needs, and, as a result, the fate of the entire case may change.

Features of interrogation of suspects and accused include the following:

the interrogation is recorded using a camera or voice recorder;
the presence of a lawyer is required;
Children under 16 years of age are interrogated only in the presence of their legal representatives.

At the end of the interrogation, the citizen and his lawyer have the right to read the protocol. No subsequent changes are allowed there.

Tactics

The method of interrogating a suspect involves the investigator using psychological techniques and the knowledge that he received in criminology. The legislation of the Russian Federation contains a ban on the use of leading questions that could affect the objectivity of both the person being interrogated and the law enforcement officer.

All the nuances of interrogation can be divided into two large groups: when the citizen himself recognizes himself as a suspect and is ready to help the investigation, and when he is not going to do this.

In the first case, tactical techniques for interrogating a suspect include:

if a person uses phrases or words that are unusual for him, then, most likely, they are the result of suggestion from other citizens or were thought out in advance by the person himself, which means that the investigator will try to force him to express himself in his own words;
usually a citizen tries to reduce his role in the offense committed, so the police officer will provide reasoned facts confirming the real degree of guilt of the person;
organizing confrontations and repeated conversations with citizens;
verification of the information received from him at the scene of the offense.

In the second case, the following techniques are used:

the investigator will try to establish contact with the citizen in order to force him to be frank and find out his real attitude to what happened;
most likely, he will settle on the form of interrogation in the form of a free story;
the employee will clarify all details related to the case in order to objectively assess the level of involvement of the person in the incident;
perhaps he will invite a psychologist to establish the personality characteristics of the citizen himself.

Repeated interrogation of the accused

The Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation does not provide for repeated interrogation of the accused, with the exception of one case when the accused refused to testify during the first interrogation, and then thought and thought and decided to testify. That is, the investigator can re-interrogate the accused only at the request of the latter. Thus, if the accused decides to testify on the charge against him, despite his initial refusal to testify, he may do so.

The purpose of such actions for the accused may be different, for example, the accused understands that the investigator will be able to prove his guilt, why aggravate his situation, and contributing to the investigation of the criminal case will subsequently be taken into account when deciding the verdict.

However, if a new charge is brought against the accused, then in this case there can be no question of any re-interrogation, i.e. new accusation - new interrogation.

It is also not a re-interrogation when the accused is asked to clarify some questions that arose during the investigation of a criminal case. Thus, additional interrogations by the investigator may be conducted without taking into account the opinion of the accused.

Physical and psychological violence during interrogation of the accused

Everyone has probably heard about the physical and psychological violence used against accused persons during interrogation from various news reports. Our legislation prohibits the application of the specified measures of influence to the accused, however, despite individual cases of identifying the so-called “extortion of testimony,” little has changed in the law enforcement system, especially since interrogations are carried out behind closed doors, there is no way to subsequently prove the fact physical and psychological violence is difficult.

If the specified measures of influence are applied to the accused, you can try to inform your lawyer about this so that the latter takes some measures to protect his rights, you can also report these facts to the court at a court hearing, contact your relatives so that the latter write a complaint to prosecutor's office

You will need to be persistent in protecting your rights, but you should be very careful and “not get into trouble,” otherwise the consequences for the accused can be very dire, since behind closed doors priority remains with the investigative authorities.

USEFUL : for any illegal action of the investigator, write a complaint, watch the video for more details with additional advice from a lawyer

Peculiarities of interrogation of the accused in court

In court, the accused is interrogated in the presence of a judge, a defense lawyer, the prosecution, and also at the court hearing, if it is not closed, other persons, including representatives of the media, may be present. Initially, the court determines the procedure for examining evidence in the case, including at what point to interrogate the defendant (accused).

When the time comes for questioning the defendant, the court will explain to such person his rights and obligations, including the right to refuse to testify:

If the defendant agrees to testify, he will tell about all the circumstances that he knows about the crime committed. After this, the defendant may be asked questions by the defense, the prosecution and the court.
If the defendant is a minor, he is also interrogated in the presence of his legal representative, the defense, the prosecution and the court. In cases established by law regarding minors, the meeting is held behind closed doors. Also, in some cases, at the hearing, by analogy with the interrogation of the accused, the participation of a teacher or psychologist is mandatory.
If they decided to interrogate the defendant first, but he refused to testify, then after studying all the materials of the case, the defendant can declare that he wants to testify, in which case the court will grant him such a right, the parties will be able to ask questions to the defendant.

ATTENTION : It is not allowed to ask leading questions when interrogating the defendant, as well as other persons.

If during the interrogation of the defendant there are contradictions with the testimony that he gave at the stage of the investigation of the criminal case, then the prosecutor will petition the court to read out the testimony of the defendant given by him during the preliminary investigation as an accused. After the reading of the testimony, it will be clarified whether the defendant gave the testimony that was read out, and why the testimony at the trial differs from the testimony given to the investigator. In the future, all identified and established circumstances will be assessed.

Article 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation

This article regulates the procedure for interrogating the accused. It establishes the procedure for interrogation, including repeated interrogation. There are comments to the article, the content of which is important for the accused to know in order to take advantage of his advantages. First of all, this is the right to have a private meeting with the defense lawyer before the start of the interrogation.

If the accused is denied access to a lawyer, then this is a clear violation of his rights.

And another comment states that the interrogation should take place according to the general requirements, which refer to Article 189 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.

This is, first of all, the right of the accused to use documents and records during interrogation, and the inadmissibility of leading questions from the investigator during the interrogation procedure.