Instapundit links to a gun message board where an individual asserts he has been harassed by a Montgomery County Maryland sniper task force agent who falsely claimed to be with the FBI. The agent treated him like a suspect. Scroll down to Oct. 14 at 6:25 am. He didn't ask for a lawyer.

We write the "Ask a Lawyer" criminal law column for Lawyers.Com on Mondays. Here is our advice on what to do when the police ask you to come in for questioning, which we think is equally applicable to when they call you on the phone. Among other things we note:

"If you are going to speak with the police, you should do so with counsel. The police will give you "Miranda" warnings, and they mean it: Anything (and everything) you say can (and likely will) be used against you in court. The jails are filled with people who thought if they could only explain things to the police, they wouldn't be charged with a crime."

And remember, Miranda rights only apply if you are in custody...if your freedom of movement has been restricted in any significant way. They are not applicable to interrogations that occur when you are in your home and the police call you, or if you voluntarily go down to the station house for questioning and are told you are free to leave.

For the answers to the other 136 questions we've answered from the public about criminal law and rights of defendants, an archive with hotlinks to each one is here. If you have a question we haven't addressed yet, you can submit it here. We answer one question a week, but do not give individual legal advice.