You’ve seen it on nighttime police dramas – cops arrest a criminal, and read them their rights. There’s not much in Hollywood that runs true to life, but scenes like these are relatively authentic. The Miranda v. Arizona case requires law officers to advise suspects of their rights, including the right to remain silent. The ruling also induced officers to tell suspects that:
1. Their words can be used against them in a court of law
2. They can call Defense Attorneys in Minneapolis MN, who can be there during interrogation
3. That they will receive legal representation if they cannot afford it
4. That they can stop an interview at any time
When Must Police Read a Suspect His/Her Rights?
An officer must give the Miranda warning if he or she is interrogating someone in police custody. An interrogation includes overt questioning, but it also includes actions and words that are likely to elicit incriminating responses. For the purposes of this article, “in custody” describes situations where a suspect is not free to leave. To know more, you should contact Brandt Criminal Defense of Minneapolis MN.
The Miranda warning means that prosecutors cannot use the suspect’s refusal to speak as evidence of wrongdoing. However, the law does not require police to give the warning to those who aren’t in custody. In many cases, police question suspects after telling them that they’re free to leave at any time, but their silence cannot be used against them in court.
Silence Doesn’t Always Work
In a hotly contested decision, the US Supreme Court held that a non-arrested suspect’s silence can be used as evidence of his or her guilt. The only way to keep such evidence out of court is to invoke your right to remain silent. In the court case that led to this ruling, an investigating officer interrogated a suspect who wasn’t in custody. The defendant’s refusal to answer a question was used as evidence of his guilt, because he did not clearly indicate that he intended to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights.
Invoking the Right to Remain Silent
To be completely safe, suspects and their Defense Attorneys in Minneapolis MN should clearly invoke their Fifth Amendment rights so their later failure to answer questions cannot be used against them in court. For help in defending yourself against criminal charges, click here to contact Brandt Criminal Defense today.
