Arresting people and then forcing them to confess, or recording a confession when the defendant.
Arresting people and then forcing them to confess, or recording a confession when the defendant did not make one or did not know that he or she was making one is the stuff of dystopian fiction. Unfortunately, the criminal justice system in the United States still engages in injustices like this, and it would do it even more often if it were not for the Fifth Amendment, which protects against self-incrimination and forced confessions. As with many other provisions in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, case law has elaborated on the meanings of phrases like “self-incrimination” and “coerced confession.” One important case in this regard is Miranda v. Arizona, which led to a Supreme Court decision that indicated the disclosures that police must make before questioning a suspect in custody; these disclosures are commonly known as the Miranda warnings. The Miranda warnings have spared numerous defendants from being wrongfully convicted, and they started here in Arizona. A Tempe criminal law attorney can help you exercise your rights if you are facing criminal charges.
What are the Miranda Rights and When Do They Apply?
The Miranda warnings are a recitation of the rights of a defendant in a criminal case. Police officers must recite the Miranda warnings before beginning to question a suspect in custody. The law does not prescribe specific wording that the officer must use, but the officer must notify you of the following pieces of information:
- You have the right to remain silent.
- Anything you say can and will be used against you.
- You have the right to representation by an attorney.
- The court will provide an attorney to represent you free of charge if you cannot afford to hire one.
The police are not required to recite the Miranda warnings the moment they arrest you; they must only do it before they begin questioning you while you are in custody at the police station. If an officer questions you at the police station without reciting the Miranda warnings, the answers you give are inadmissible in court, and your lawyer may be able to exclude them from your trial.
Invoking and Waiving Your Miranda Rights
While the law does not require certain “magic words” for reciting, invoking, or waiving the Miranda rights, police and defendants should be as explicit as possible about the fact that they are referring to these rights. For example, if you just sit silently in the police station and ignore officers’ questions, they can construe this as you being uncooperative, and they might even use this against you. If you respond to a question with, “May I make a phone call?” or “May I call my lawyer?” this might also come across as you being uncooperative or snarky.
Instead, you should say, “I wish to remain silent,” or, “I am invoking my right to have an attorney present during questioning. The exact wording matters less than the fact that you clearly say something about the rights and the fact that you are exercising them.
If you answer an officer’s question, it means that you are waiving your Miranda rights. The officer should ask you if you are sure you want to waive your Miranda rights, but even if the officer does not, your participation in questioning still counts as a waiver of your rights. Once you waive your right to remain silent and to avoid answering questions without a lawyer’s guidance, you cannot get them back.
How to Avoid Self-Incrimination in Situations Not Covered by Miranda
It can feel like a very long time between when a police officer pulls you over, and when the questioning at the police station begins. During this time, you are in a Miranda gray area, but the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments are ever-present. You must identify yourself to the officer upon request, or else you are obstructing justice. You should not consent to a search of your vehicle, though; if you do, you cannot withdraw consent or declare the contents of your car inadmissible as evidence. If the officer suspects you of drunk driving, you may refuse a breathalyzer test, even though your refusal may have other legal consequences. Do not converse with the police in the police cruiser, even if they seem friendly; just get through the ride to the police station as quickly as you can, and then invoke your Miranda rights.
Contact Singular Law Group About Criminal Defense Cases
A criminal law attorney can help you exercise your legal rights during a criminal investigation. Contact Singular Law Group PLLC in Tempe, Arizona, to set up a consultation.
Sources
Fifth Amendment Miranda Rights – FindLaw
A Tempe criminal defense lawyer can help you exercise your Miranda rights if you get arrested on suspicion of a crime.
