Its no secret, illegal distribution of anabolic androgenic steroids can lead to your arrest but arrest for simple personal possession is on the rise. From visiting many anabolic steroid message boards the feeling is generally personal users are by-in-large in the clear, as law enforcement has no desire in busting the small fish; this is a very false sense of security. More and more law enforcement is going after those of a simple personal possession nature largely to lead to larger arrest; arrest enough small fish and eventually it will lead you to the big fish. Such arrest can occur in several different ways, from random car stops where suspicion is raised, controlled delivery of an illegally ordered package and increasingly the old helping a friend scenario. It is very common place; an individual gets arrested for whatever reason and to lessen his troubles he passes them on to you by purchasing some of your own personal supply. He may say hes running a little short and only needs a little testosterone, as a friend you agree to help him out but once the money and product exchanges hands if he is working with law enforcement you have signed your own death warrant. Border crossings are also a very common point of interest as agents are far less restricted by the Fourth Amendment.
If you are arrested, regardless of how the process occurred there are many things to consider and one very important factor to keep in mind; what you say during the process will greatly affect your total outcome and can dramatically affect your defense in a negative way. Always remember you have protected rights given to all by the Fifth and Sixth Amendments which protect you from self-incrimination and grant you the right to legal counsel. These basic rights are further reinforced by Mirandizing brought forth by the 1966 case Miranda v. Arizona [384 U.S. 436 (1966)] by such rights you are granted and necessarily informed of the following:
Custody does not simply refer to jail or the police station; custody simply refers to law enforcement holding you at any location while prohibiting you from leaving. Custody can be deemed at any place or location, at the police station, at your home or place of work, in a parking lot, in the back of a police car and everything in-between. If you are not in custody, meaning you are free to leave at any time Mirandizing rights do not apply even if the officers are questioning you.
Interrogation simply refers to questioning while you are in custody and applies directly to the matter at hand. If interrogation occurs you should be in custody and rights must be made known; however, if you are in custody yet questioning is not going to occur law enforcement officers do not have to make known your simple and basic rights. Keep in mind, if you are not questioned yet blurt something out this information can be used against you.
If you find yourself confronted by law enforcement, put into custody and interrogated and the rights are not made known anything you say is excluded in court as your rights were violated. The same can be said of all evidence; any evidence obtained without proper Mirandizing will be thrown out and in some cases the total case dismissed but this will be a case by case basis and largely dependent on the strength of the total case by the prosecution.
One key factor many forget is asking one simple question from the beginning Am I under arrest? If you are not they cannot hold you, you do not have to answer one single question; in-fact, if this is the case you are highly advised to remain silent and simply leave the situation. You may desire to speak up in order to give yourself a feeling of protection but bear in mind absolutely everything you say will play a huge role in anything yet to come; silence is your best friend. If the officers in question inform you are not free to leave you must necessarily voice your Fifth and Sixth Amendments rights which will allow you to remain silent as well as obtain an attorney before anything else is done. If you remain silent and demand an attorney the officers in question cannot persist with questioning; in some cases the officers may still pressure you to talk but your best course of action is again and is always absolute silence.
When and if arrested on any anabolic steroid charge the rules are very simple; remain silent, wait for your attorney before any action is taken or a word is spoken. Failure to abide by these two simple rules could very easily bring a world of hurt and pain that could have so easily been avoided.
