Under Criminal Investigation? What to Do Before You’re Charged
Board Certified Criminal Trial Lawyer | Polk, Highlands & Hardee Counties | Pre-Charge Defense
Legally reviewed by Tonmiel Rodriguez, Board Certified Criminal Trial Lawyer — last reviewed June 2026.
A detective left a message asking you to call back. Or someone told you the police have been asking questions about you. Or you got a letter from a federal prosecutor. You haven’t been arrested. No charges have been filed. But you know something is happening, and you don’t know whether to call the detective back.
This is one of the most important moments in a criminal case, and most people make their worst decisions here. They call the detective back and try to explain themselves. They talk to their friends about what happened. They delete text messages or emails they think might look bad. Every one of those actions makes the case against you stronger.
I’m Tonmiel Rodriguez, a Board Certified Criminal Trial Lawyer based in Bartow, Florida. I’ve handled investigations and pre-charge representation across the 10th Judicial Circuit — Polk, Highlands, and Hardee Counties — and in federal court. The time you have before charges are filed is the most valuable time in your entire case. Don’t waste it.
Recognizing the Signs You’re Under Investigation
Law enforcement doesn’t usually announce an investigation. But the signs are there if you know what to look for:
- A detective calls or visits asking to “get your side of the story.” This is an interrogation in disguise.
- A search warrant is executed at your home, business, or vehicle. This means a judge already found probable cause.
- Friends, coworkers, or family members report being questioned about you by law enforcement.
- You receive a grand jury subpoena — either to testify or to produce documents.
- You receive a target letter from a U.S. Attorney’s Office — federal charges are likely imminent.
- You discover an active warrant through a background check or contact with the courts.
Any of these means a case is being built. The question is whether you will respond strategically or reactively.
The Fifth Amendment: Your Most Important Right
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects you from being compelled to testify against yourself. In Florida, Article I, Section 9 of the Florida Constitution provides the same protection. These are not technicalities — they are fundamental rights that exist because the Founders understood that government interrogations, if unchecked, produce false confessions and unjust convictions.
Here is what the Fifth Amendment means in practice: you do not have to answer police questions. Ever. Not during a traffic stop (beyond identifying yourself), not when a detective visits your home, not when you’re brought in for questioning. You can say, clearly and calmly: “I am exercising my right to remain silent. I want to speak with my attorney.” Then stop talking.
What you should know about Miranda warnings: police are only required to give Miranda warnings when you are in custody and being interrogated. A detective calling you on the phone, visiting you at home, or asking you to “come in voluntarily” may not trigger Miranda — but your right to silence applies regardless. Don’t wait to be Mirandized before asserting your rights.
Why You Should Not Talk to Police Without a Lawyer
This point deserves its own section because it is the single most important thing on this page. People believe that if they just explain what happened, the detective will understand and move on. That belief is wrong — and it is how innocent people end up charged and sometimes convicted.
Detectives investigating you are not neutral. Their job is to build a case. Every piece of information you provide is evaluated for how it can be used against you. Even truthful, innocent-seeming statements can be taken out of context, misremembered, or contradict physical evidence in ways that make you look deceptive. Inconsistencies between your statement and other evidence are powerful and often devastating at trial.
A 2010 study by the Innocence Project found that in 25% of wrongful convictions later overturned by DNA evidence, the innocent person had made a false confession or incriminating statement to law enforcement. The pressure of an interrogation room is not a level playing field.
Grand Jury Subpoenas: What They Mean and What to Do
A grand jury subpoena is a legal order to appear before a grand jury. It can require you to testify, produce documents, or both. Unlike a trial jury, a grand jury operates in secret — there is no judge in the room, and you have no right to have your attorney present during your actual testimony (though your attorney can be outside and you can request to consult with them before answering each question).
If you receive a grand jury subpoena, particularly in a federal investigation, the most important thing you can do is call a lawyer immediately. You have options: asserting your Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, seeking to quash or narrow the subpoena, or negotiating proffer agreements with the government if cooperation is being considered. None of those options should be exercised without experienced counsel.
Federal investigations involving agencies like the FBI, DEA, or IRS move on a different timeline and with different consequences than state investigations. See our page on federal crimes defense for more.
Proactive Defense: What a Lawyer Can Do Before You’re Charged
Hiring a lawyer before charges are filed is not an admission of guilt; it is the single smartest thing you can do. Before a charging decision, counsel can act in several concrete ways:
Controlling the narrative: A lawyer can contact the detective or the State Attorney’s Office directly and present your position before a charging decision is made. Prosecutors make charging decisions based on what’s in the file. A defense attorney can add context, challenge weak evidence, and present mitigating factors that may never appear in a police report.
Gathering and preserving evidence: Favorable evidence — surveillance footage, text messages, alibi witnesses, phone records — disappears. Businesses overwrite security footage in days or weeks. A lawyer can send preservation letters and begin collecting evidence before it’s gone.
Protecting you from interrogation: Once you have retained counsel, law enforcement is required to direct all contact to your attorney. You will not be caught off guard by a knock at your door or a call to your phone.
Assessing arrest warrants: If there is an active warrant for your arrest, a lawyer can often arrange a voluntary surrender, negotiate conditions of release in advance, and ensure you are processed with dignity rather than arrested at work or in front of your family. See our arrest warrants page for more on that process.
Evaluating the strength of the state’s case: Before a charging decision, a lawyer can often obtain information about the investigation and assess what the State Attorney actually has. Weak evidence sometimes doesn’t survive early scrutiny if the right pressure is applied.
What NOT to Do While Under Investigation
Do not destroy, delete, or alter any evidence. This includes text messages, emails, photos, documents, or any other material related to the investigation. Destroying evidence after you know you are under investigation is a separate crime — tampering with evidence under Florida § 918.13 or obstruction of justice under federal law. The cover-up routinely becomes worse than the original offense. See the Florida criminal process page for more context: /florida-criminal-process/.
Do not discuss the investigation with anyone except your lawyer. Not even your spouse. Attorney-client communications are privileged. Communications with everyone else are potentially discoverable. What you tell your friend today may be a witness statement against you tomorrow.
Do not post on social media. Law enforcement routinely monitors social media during investigations. Posts, photos, check-ins, and even reaction emojis have appeared in criminal cases. Go quiet online until this is resolved.
Do not try to contact alleged victims or witnesses. Even if your intent is innocent, contact with witnesses or alleged victims during an investigation can result in witness tampering charges — a felony that carries its own independent penalties.
How the 10th Circuit State Attorney’s Office Makes Charging Decisions
In Polk, Highlands, and Hardee Counties, charging decisions go through the State Attorney’s Office for the 10th Judicial Circuit in Bartow. After law enforcement completes its investigation and submits an arrest report or a capias request, a prosecutor reviews the file and decides whether to file charges, what charges to file, and what level of offense to charge.
That decision is not automatic. Prosecutors use discretion. Evidence quality matters. The severity and circumstances of the alleged offense matter. Prior criminal history matters. And yes — information presented by a defense attorney before the charging decision can matter. In appropriate cases, I have contacted the State Attorney’s Office before charges were filed to present my client’s side of the story, provide context, or challenge the reliability of evidence. It doesn’t always work. But it has worked.
Frequently Asked Questions
A detective left me a voicemail asking me to call back. Should I?
No — not without a lawyer. When a detective calls asking to “get your side of the story,” they already have information pointing to your involvement. That call is an investigation. Anything you say will be used to build a case. Call a defense attorney before you return that call.
What is a target letter and what should I do if I receive one?
A target letter is a formal notice from a federal prosecutor that you are the subject of a grand jury investigation and that charges are likely. Contact a defense attorney immediately. The window between receiving a target letter and being indicted can be critical for presenting mitigating information or exploring alternatives to prosecution.
Can hiring a lawyer before I’m charged actually prevent charges?
Sometimes, yes. Early intervention gives a lawyer the ability to present context to the State Attorney, challenge weak evidence, and in some cases negotiate a resolution before charges are filed. It’s not guaranteed, but the window before a charging decision is often the best opportunity in the entire case.
Does invoking my Fifth Amendment right make me look guilty?
No. Exercising a constitutional right is not evidence of guilt. Every competent criminal defense attorney advises clients not to speak to law enforcement without counsel present. The Fifth Amendment exists precisely because interrogations are designed to produce incriminating statements — innocent people included.
What is spoliation and why does it matter?
Spoliation is destroying or altering evidence relevant to a legal proceeding. If you delete messages, files, or other materials after learning you’re under investigation, you can face separate charges for obstruction of justice or tampering with evidence under Florida § 918.13 or federal law. The cover-up is often worse than the original charge. Do not delete anything without legal advice.
Under Investigation? Call Before It Becomes an Arrest.
The time before charges are filed is your most valuable asset. Don’t spend it waiting. Call now for a free, confidential consultation with a Board Certified Criminal Trial Lawyer handling investigations in Polk, Highlands, and Hardee Counties.
(863) 774-4556
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What Rights Do You Have When You Are Under Criminal Investigation?
Being under investigation is not the same as being charged. You retain all constitutional rights during the investigation phase — and several of them become critically important before any arrest occurs. The Fifth Amendment protects you from being compelled to be a witness against yourself. This means you are not required to speak with detectives, investigators, or prosecutors — even if they represent the conversation as voluntary, informal, or merely for purposes of “clearing things up.” An informal pre-charge interview is not conducted to help you; it is conducted to build the case.
The Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches at the point formal adversarial proceedings begin — meaning arrest or indictment. Before that point, you have a Fifth Amendment right to decline questioning and an absolute practical right to retain an attorney who can communicate with investigators on your behalf without subjecting you to interrogation. Once you retain counsel, investigators must direct all contact to your attorney. They cannot contact you directly to schedule an interview without going through your lawyer. This stops the informal contact and forces the investigation to proceed through proper channels.
What Is a Target Letter and What Should You Do If You Receive One?
A target letter is a formal notification from a prosecutor — most commonly in federal investigations — that you are the target of a grand jury investigation. Receiving a target letter means the prosecution believes it has evidence sufficient to seek an indictment against you. It is not an indictment. It is not an arrest. But it is a serious signal that charges are being actively prepared. State-level investigations sometimes use similar informal notifications — a letter or phone call from a detective asking you to “come in and talk.” Whether formal or informal, the response is the same: do not respond without retaining counsel immediately.
When you receive a target letter or learn through any channel that you are under active investigation, your attorney’s first job is to understand the scope of the investigation — what agency is involved, what conduct is alleged, what evidence they appear to have, and whether there is an opportunity to intervene in the charging decision. In some cases, proactive engagement by defense counsel before charges are filed — presenting exculpatory evidence, providing context the investigators don’t have, challenging the factual basis for the investigation — can influence or prevent charging. That window only exists before the arrest. After the arrest, the charging decision has already been made.
How Long Do Criminal Investigations Take Before Charges Are Filed?
It depends entirely on the type of investigation and the agency involved. Simple street-level cases may result in arrest the same day the alleged offense occurs. Complex investigations — financial crimes, drug trafficking conspiracies, public corruption, organized criminal activity, federal cases — can run for months or years before charges are filed. During that time, investigators are building the case: executing search warrants, conducting surveillance, interviewing witnesses, executing controlled purchases, analyzing financial records, and presenting evidence to prosecutors. The investigation continues until the agency believes it has a case strong enough to prosecute. Your attorney, retained early, is present throughout this process in a way that cannot be replicated after charges are filed.
Under Investigation? Retain Counsel Before They Arrest You
The pre-charge window is your best opportunity to influence the outcome. Board Certified Criminal Trial Lawyer Tonmiel Rodriguez represents targets and subjects of criminal investigations throughout Polk, Highlands, and Hardee Counties.
Board Certified in Criminal Trial Law by The Florida Bar · Reach Us 24/7 · Hablamos Español