What're the odds of me getting called?
 

Hey guys, hoping someone can provide me with a solid answer.

This evening, I was sitting with a few of my buddies at a coffee shop just enjoying some drinks. Just so happens, a fight breaks out (nothing too major, some minor assault, and assault with a necklace or something.. not sure if it's a weapon). Anyway, before the actual fight occurs, the soon-to-be combatants are yelling at each other and people (including myself) are telling them to settle down.

Eventually, the fight breaks out and it's right beside me. I figure that if I don't step in, i'm going to get hit anyway. So I stand up and physically divide the combatants (not touching either of them, and neither of them touched me). (This seems like a suicidal move for a small little asian kid, and in retrospect, maybe it was.)

Anyway, one of the guys came back and got my name and number as well as one of my friend's. I just want to know, what are the odds of the police actually contacting me to be a witness? Because to be honest, I really don't have the time to go down wherever to make a statement or anything.

Thanking you all in advance.

Don't have time? It takes maybe a half hour at an absolute maximum in a situation like this to give a statement. You'll only be called if someone presses charges.

I don't have a car. Hopefully the station is nearby if I have to give a statement.

Update: A "friend" of the guy who got my info called me (at 1:30 i might add... jeez..) asking for my side of the story. Personally, I am thinking that I should not say anything unless it is to a police officer. Any opinions?

Don't say anything unless it's to a cop. All it takes is one change in the story you told the "friend' and the one you tell the cop to mess things up even more.

And, if the cops were called, you can pretty much count on being contacted. You have the right to refuse to fill out a written statement. Just offer to talk to the cop over the phone instead.

if it's really a burden, you could ask that an officer visit you to collect the statement. i wouldn't demand this, but if you ask nicely...i'd say there's a pretty good chance that they'd work with you on that.

If you don't want to write out a witness report you don't have to!

Why wouldn't you?


Mr Mephisto

It's up to you to what plan of action to do. I would recommend that you say nothing to the "other side" until your friend requests that you provide a statement. If they want to hear your side of the story then something is being charged. They need to hear both sides of the events in order to gauge whether they have a solid case or not.

If you were afraid of getting involved, why did you get involved? Self preservation is one thing. I too, appreciate not being smacked in the back of the head while other people are fighting. But you should have left as soon as you got that feeling that something was about to happen. You should not have given your information to someone who was not a police officer if you did not want to get involved. Now some random entity has your contact information, and you have no idea what they are going to do with it, aside from calling you at 1:30 in the morning.

If they ask you, then you have to.

That may be true where you live but not here. You are under no obligation to write out a statement and they cannot order you to do so. However, that does not mean that you can't be subpoened to testify should the case go to trial.

Isn't that interfering with a police investigation?

No because it is refusing to fill out a written statement. It isn't a refusal to provide the known information via verbal communication. The officer still has the information, just not in written form. The cops here handle a number of cases that way.

The only time I've been involved in giving a statement to the Police was when I saw a hit & run occur in a parking lot of a local mall. I managed to give the owner of the hit vehicle the information I had seen, and had given him my contact info if needed. A short time later, A Police officer came by my place to take the information. The questioning lasted maybe 10 minutes, and that was the last I heard of the case.

a) You can usually provide a written statement by asking an officer to come to your home or school or work.

b) If that is not an option for some reason, they can also often drive you to the station... they do it all the time in the inner city where many people have no vehicles.

c) You are not required to file a written statement, but as mentioned, can be subpoened to testify if it gets that far.