Miranda Rights in Today's Society

Every day in this country many people are arrested and
subjected to interrogation by the police.  Unfortunately, most
citizens do not understand the rules that relate to the
requirement that the police "read rights" to the criminal suspect
in a case.  The laws related to Miranda rights are not as straight
forward as most folks think.

Indeed, the subject of Miranda rights is a common topic of
discussion throughout the legal community and society in
general.  Miranda Rights are perhaps the most well known of all
constitutional rights.  The Miranda Rule is promulgated as
follows:  Suspects must be informed of their Fifth Amendment
rights once they are in custody and subject to interrogation. Any
statement made by a suspect in custody before he or she is
apprised of these rights will be inadmissible. Suspects must be
informed of the following:

You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in court.
You have the right to consult with an attorney and have an
attorney present during questioning.
If you cannot afford an attorney, one can be provided to you
before questioning at no cost.

These rights must be presented to the suspect due to the fact
that the U.S. Supreme Court has held that being interrogated
while in custody is an inherently coercive situation in
accordance with the well established rule set forth in the
seminal case of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966).  
Furthermore, a suspect is entitled to the Miranda rights
regardless of the nature or severity of the offense as set down
in the Supreme Court case of  Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S.
420  in 1984.

There is no requirement that an officer use the precise
language of the Miranda decision. A warning is sufficient as
long as it reasonably conveys the above rights to the suspect,
regardless of whether or not the officer quotes the Miranda
decision verbatim.

A suspect is only accorded the Miranda protections during a
custodial interrogation. Both elements (i.e., custody and
interrogation) must be present before the requirement that the
warnings be given arises.  The failure of a Police Officer to
issue the required warnings may render the statements
obtained inadmissible, there is no requirement that a case be
dismissed completely even if a Judge finds a person's rights
were violated.

One frequently encountered situation related to Miranda is a
police encounter surrounding a
DUI Arrest.  In these situations it
is not legally required to read rights to a suspect in most cases,
as discussed previously the law only compels the advisal when
the 2 prongs exist, custody and interrogation.

It goes without saying that this area of the Law is extremely
complex, a Lawyer should be consulted to determine if a
violation has occurred.  In many cases individuals that have
been arrested ask why their "rights" were not read to them by
the police officer, these questions are best suited for a
long
beach criminal defense attorney and one should be consulted
regarding a person's specific case.


San Pedro Criminal Defense Lawyers
Redondo Beach Criminal Lawyer
Criminal Defense Lawyer in Long Beach California
Exclusively Criminal Law
444 West Ocean Avenue
Long Beach CA 90802