The Flight Instruction
Sometimes those charged with a crime try to avoid getting arrested . My advice is to hire a criminal defense lawyer and turn yourself in to law enforcement .There are several tactical reasons to so and they can all help your case.
First , turning yourself in sometimes result in a lower bail bond being set . When I go with a client to turn themselves into jail , the magistrate takes that fact into account. You turned yourself in and have a lawyer ready to help you is powerful . In most instances this is a evidence that you will show up to court since you have hired a lawyer.
Secondly , it can help at sentencing It is not a specific mitigating factor but I think district attorneys and judges both consider this fact.
Third , you avoid the flight instruction . In my last two murder trials the state has attempted to have the court issue a flight instruction . Under Tennessee law , the State of Tennessee can ask the court to instruct the jury on the defendant's flight or leaving the scene of the crime. Under the flight instruction , the defendant must have left the scene and evaded arrest or concealed themselves or left the community.If the court instructs the jury on flight , it allows the jury to consider the defendant's flight as raising an inference of guilt .
So , the bottom line is you should always turn yourself in for these and other reasons.
In my last two trials , the court granted one such request and denied the other . In my last two posts on " Lessons From Trial " I intend to discuss Rule 803 (23) of the Tennessee rules of evidence and the use of cell phone towers in proving location..
