When you face a criminal charge, it is natural to want to turn to friends and relatives for support. You are probably scared and confused, and you do not want to go through this ordeal alone. Plus, venting about your problems may be an outlet for you.
However, discussing your case with friends or relatives can backfire. Your attorney and other people your attorney authorizes should be the only folks you trust with details about your case.
Room for misinterpretation or muddled explanations
It is a highly emotional time for you and likely for your close relatives as well. They may hear the things you say differently than you intended them, or you presented certain assumptions as fact, perhaps without even realizing they were assumptions (for example, “The guy in the red hat was the one selling the drugs.”). If information comes out later that conflicts with what you said, that could color your friends’ or relatives’ belief in you.
There is also a chain of gossip. Say that you told your mother you have an alibi for the night in question and what the alibi is. Your mother tells someone who tells someone who tells someone. Five people later, the message could be that you confessed to the crime. Police and prosecutors could find a way to use this against you.
Posts made on social media can perhaps be the most damaging of all. They are easy to make in moments of distress and hard to take back later.
Changing loyalties
Someone who believes in you now might not later. For instance, say that you and your girlfriend have a great relationship. You feel comfortable confiding in her. Six months later, you realize you two are wrong for each other, and you break up with her. If she is upset, she could go to the authorities about potentially damaging information.
