When you learn that prosecutors suspect you of committing a murder in Missouri, taking prompt action can best protect your rights, interests, freedom, and future.

Understanding Homicide Charges in Missouri

Under Missouri law RSMo 565.020-021, a person commits first-degree murder if they knowingly cause another person’s death after deliberating the decision to cause that person’s death. Second-degree murder occurs when a person knowingly causes another person’s death or causes their death with the intent to inflict severe injury, or causes another person’s death while committing, attempting to commit, or fleeing from the commission or attempted commission of a felony. Missouri grades first- and second-degree murder as Class A felonies.

A person commits voluntary manslaughter under RSMo 565-023 if they cause another person’s death while under the influence of sudden passion arising from adequate cause or knowingly assist a person in committing suicide. Missouri grades voluntary manslaughter as a Class B felony.

Your Rights as a Suspect

As a murder suspect in Missouri, you have various rights that can protect your interests and help you defend yourself against potential homicide charges. These rights include:

• The Right to Remain Silent – Your right to remain silent means you do not have to answer questions about a homicide if police approach, detain, or arrest you.
• The Right to Legal Counsel – You have the right to consult an attorney to discuss your legal rights and options as a murder suspect. Furthermore, if you choose to speak to the police during an investigation, you have the right to have your attorney present during questioning.
• The Right to Refrain from Incriminating Oneself – As part of your right to remain silent, the police cannot compel you to sit for questioning or to answer questions that would require you to give a response containing incriminating information or information that could lead investigators to incriminating evidence.

Steps to Take

After learning that you’ve become a suspect in a homicide investigation in Missouri, steps you can take to protect your rights and options include:

• Avoid speaking to law enforcement without legal representation. Although you may think you can talk your way out of criminal suspicion, police receive extensive training in interrogating suspects to get them to make inculpatory statements. Prosecutors can use anything you say to police in a subsequent murder trial.
• Avoid destroying or tampering with possible evidence, as doing so constitutes a separate crime. Furthermore, hiding, destroying, or tampering with evidence may constitute evidence of consciousness of guilt that prosecutors can use in a murder trial.
• Gather evidence that can help your defense case, such as alibi evidence placing you somewhere else when the murder occurred, photos, surveillance footage, cell phone records, text messages, or fact and character witnesses.

Finally, contact a homicide defense attorney as soon as possible to advocate for your rights and interests during a murder investigation. A defense lawyer can investigate the case to secure evidence supporting a compelling defense of your innocence. An effective defense case might eliminate you as a suspect in the murder investigation. Should prosecutors choose to charge you, an attorney can facilitate your booking and processing to help you avoid the embarrassment of a public arrest and advocate for your rights while in custody.

What to Expect During a Criminal Investigation

During a criminal investigation into a suspected homicide, some of the things you can expect to encounter if you become a suspect in the investigation include:

• Police Questioning – During a homicide investigation, police may ask to question you if you become a person of interest or suspect. Although investigators may not reveal your status as a person of interest or suspect and instead make it seem as though they just want you to help the investigation with any information you may have, you should not talk to the police until you’ve consulted a defense attorney.
• Search Warrants – When police develop probable cause to believe that your home, vehicle, storage unit, place of business, or other property contains evidence related to the homicide case, they can obtain a search warrant from the court to search your property without your consent.
• Arrest – In conjunction with a search warrant or after executing a search, police may gather sufficient evidence to arrest you for murder. After an arrest, police will fingerprint and photograph you, check records for other outstanding warrants, and potentially detain you until your arraignment or initial hearing.
• Formal Charges/Indictment – At an arraignment, prosecutors will formally present the charges against you. In some cases, prosecutors may present a case to a grand jury to obtain an indictment, which represents the grand jury’s determination that the prosecution’s evidence contains sufficient evidence to support probable cause to try the defendant.

Contact a Criminal Defense Attorney Today

When you learn you’re a suspect in a murder investigation, you need highly experienced legal counsel and advocacy to defend your rights, reputation, and freedom. Contact Frank & Juengel Law Group P.C. today for a confidential consultation with our legal team to discuss your options for protecting your interests during a criminal investigation into a homicide.