What to Do in the First 48 Hours After an Arrest
The period right after an arrest is when the fewest people have advice and the most damage gets done. Almost none of what follows is complicated — it is mostly about not making the situation worse while you find out what you are actually dealing with.
Stop talking about the case
To police, to the other people involved, on the phone, and online. You have the right to remain silent whether or not you have been arrested, and asking for a lawyer and then not answering questions is the exercise of a right, not evidence of anything. The explanation that feels obvious to you can read very differently in a report written by someone else.
Assume every jail call is recorded
Because it is, and recorded calls are routinely used. Talk to family about logistics — who is coming, what is needed, where the paperwork is — and not about what happened. This is the single most common self-inflicted wound in a criminal case.
Find out exactly what the charge is and when the next date is
Not the general category — the specific charge, and the date, time and courthouse of the next appearance. Everything else scales off those two facts, and a missed appearance creates a second problem on top of the first.
Keep every piece of paper
The citation or charging document, release or bail paperwork, property receipts, and anything with a date on it. Photograph all of it as soon as you can, so it survives being lost. The dates on those documents are frequently the most urgent part of the file.
Write down what happened, for your lawyer only
While it is fresh, in as much detail as you can manage — times, places, who was present, what was said, what you were asked. Give it to your lawyer rather than keeping it on your phone or sharing it. Memory degrades fast and never improves.
Preserve anything that might disappear
Photographs, messages, receipts, and the names of anyone who was there. Security and doorbell video is often overwritten within days on an automatic cycle, so if you know a camera saw something, tell your lawyer immediately — that is a request that has to be made quickly to be worth anything.
Say nothing on social media, and change nothing either
Do not post about the case, and do not delete posts, messages or accounts. Deleting things can create a separate and much worse problem than whatever the post said. Leave it alone and tell your lawyer what exists.
Talk to a defense lawyer before the first court date
Arraignment moves quickly, and release conditions get set there. Going in having spoken to someone who understands what is being decided is materially different from going in alone.
These steps are the same everywhere — the law is not
What is above applies wherever you are. How offenses are classified, how sentencing works, whether parole exists, and how local jails deal with immigration authorities are genuinely different in California, Arizona and New Mexico. Pick your state for that.
Related
General information, not legal advice, and nothing here promises or predicts an outcome in any particular case. You are presumed innocent, and confirming how any of this applies to your situation is what a consultation is for.