Questions and Answers About Miranda Rights

If you've ever watched crime shows on TV or read much detective literature, you probably feel familiar with the concept of police officers reading accused criminals their legal rights when carting them off for interrogation. Although this scenario might ring true in many cases, it also contains subtleties you might not understand.

The reading of these rights, known as Miranda Rights after the court case that produced this protocol, protects individuals arrested for suspected crimes against self-incrimination and related acts of legal self-sabotage. If you face arrest or trial, acquaint yourself with your Miranda Rights through the following questions and answers.

What Do Your Miranda Rights Involve?

Miranda Rights include basic rights that every accused person possesses, whether they know about those rights at the time or arrest or not. Whenever the authorities place someone under arrest, they must read or explain these rights to the alleged lawbreaker before they can perform an official interrogation.

Although different states may use slightly different words or phrases when communicating Miranda Rights, the rights themselves remain the same throughout the U.S. If the suspect can't read or write English, the police must communicate the Miranda Rights in a language that person understands.

Miranda Rights consist of a few basic principles. Suspects have the right to remain silent about any potentially incriminating details of their situation. If suspects give up that right to silence, the prosecution can use any such information against them. Suspects also have the right to professional legal representation for their defense.

The inability to afford an attorney does not remove the right to professional legal representation. Suspects must know that the court can provide an attorney to represent them in court if they can't afford one on their own.

What Parts of the U.S. Constitution Do Miranda Rights Enforce?

The Miranda Rights enforce three specific amendments to the U.S. Constitution: the Fifth, the Sixth, and the Fourteenth. Together, these three amendments provide critical protections for U.S. citizens arrested for a crime.

The Fifth Amendment grants any citizen accused of a crime the right to a grand jury investigation while preventing that person from going through a second trial for the original crime (a conflict called double jeopardy). It also prohibits legal authorities from coercing citizens into making self-incriminating statements.

The Sixth Amendment guarantees both a speedy, public trial and proper legal representation for citizens charged with a crime. This guarantee prevents accused people from languishing in cells awaiting trial or receiving inappropriate verdicts and sentences due to inadequate legal counsel.

The Fourteenth Amendment clarifies the relationship between U.S. citizenship and due process of law. In addition to defining all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. as U.S. citizens, it also states that anyone meeting this description will receive equal and fair degrees of legal protection, including those named in the Fifth and Sixth Amendments.

When and Why Did Miranda Rights Become Law?

This legal requirement stems from a famous 1960s court case known as  Miranda v. Arizona . This case concerned Ernesto Miranda, who confessed to rape and kidnapping charges without anyone telling him beforehand about either his right to remain silent or his right to receive legal counsel.

These revelations prompted the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Miranda's conviction on the charges. The Court's written opinions on the decision defined future defendants' rights laid out the Miranda Rights in the form courts and attorneys still recognize and employ to the present day.

What Happens to Your Case if the Police Didn't Explain Your Miranda Rights?

Arresting officers must explain your Miranda Rights to you, and you must acknowledge that you understand each of them. If you never received this information before you underwent questioning, your attorney may ask the court to suppress any confession or coerced statements as inadmissible, potentially crippling the prosecution's case.

In Wisconsin, the court may regard any degree of police  coercion  in extracting incriminating statements from you as illegal if you have not received your Miranda Rights warning. Even subtle strategies that press you to say more than you normally would can represent unacceptable coercion that may render a confession invalid.

What Can Police Do Without Reading You Your Miranda Rights?

Don't assume that you've experienced a violation of your Miranda Rights simply because the police didn't read them to you at the moment of your arrest. Officers don't have to read you your rights until after they've arrested you and taken you into custody, as long as they do so before interrogating you.

In a DUI arrest, you might assume that your intoxication at the time of the arrest would invalidate any reading of your Miranda rights. However, even if you couldn't understand or respond at the time of arrest, the police could hold you in custody until you've sobered up and then read you your rights before taking your statement.

If you believe that the police have violated your Miranda Rights or need the legal representation guaranteed by those rights,  contact  Cohen Law Offices. Our experienced team can review your circumstances and make the strongest possible case in your favor.