Your Miranda Rights
Your Miranda Rights, named after the 1966 U.S. Supreme Court case of Miranda v. Arizona. If you have been charged with a criminal offense, you may likely benefit from consulting with a criminal defense lawyer. Compiled below are some basics concerning your right to remain silent, this information is exactly that, “information” and should not be relied upon as legal advice.
The police must advise suspects of their Miranda Rights, the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney, the right to an appointed attorney if they can’t afford one, prior to conducting custodial interrogations of a suspect. However, If the suspect is not “under arrest” (i.e.: in police custody) there is no need for the police to warn a suspect of his/her Miranda Rights.
The police have become very aware of when they have to advise suspects of their Miranda Rights. Police may question a suspect, intentionally telling the suspect, "You are not under arrest at this time”. After the suspect answers questions voluntarily, sometimes even if he refuses, he is still arrested. The questioning being non-custodial may even be admissible in court. After the arrest the police may have no interest in further questioning, and therefore may never advise the suspect of his Miranda Rights.
Occasionally, a suspect makes a voluntary statement after the arrest. Police rarely warn a suspect not to make any voluntary statements. However, if a statement from a suspect leads to the discovery of additional evidence, even though the statement itself was received in violation of the Miranda Rights ruling the prosecution may still be able to use this evidence against the suspect at trial.
If a person suspected of a crime chooses to remain silent after receiving the Miranda Rights warnings, their silence cannot be used against them in court.
If you learn you are under investigation for a crime, you can prevent pre-Miranda silence from becoming an issue by advising the police, “My attorney advises me not to talk to the police without him present.” It’s perfectly acceptable making your attorney be responsible for your choice to remain silent.
If police try to ask questions after your arrest, they should cease all forms of questioning if you exercise your Miranda Right to remain silent or you request your attorney to be present during questioning.
A person being questioned by police needs to be aware they use different and sometimes very convincing techniques to change a suspects mind about remaining silent. One technique is to simply use silence against a suspect to coerce them to tell their side.
When in doubt you should contact an attorney before entering into questioning with the police. If you have something to say that will exonerate you from the accusations an attorney can assist you to convey your information to the police.