Miranda: What’s It All About?

Let’s hope you never hear them. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” Some folks believe that a police officer has to provide every person whom they stop or with whom they speak their Miranda statements. However, that is not true. The Supreme Court has decided who needs to be informed of these rights and when.

While, Miranda rights are named for the famous Supreme Court case, Miranda v. Arizona, the protections do not have their beginnings in that case. Rather, the freedoms that we refer to as the Miranda rights are constitutional protections which the court determined needed to be provided to certain persons in state custody.

The specific constitutional protections that are typically described as the Miranda rights include the right to remain silent, the right against self incrimination and the right to an attorney during questioning and in court. The court also required that the warnings contain at least the same level of precision as it set out in its ruling and that the warnings be meaningful for the suspects.

Many jurisdictions add additional warnings to the typical Miranda warnings that they think are important for the people in their municipalities. For example, some border states require officers to tell detainees that if they are not U.S. citizens that they have the right to contact their country’s consulate.

The Miranda protections need to be spoken by a law enforcement official to an individual who is a criminal suspect and in state custody before they begin to question the individual about the circumstances surrounding the scenario. The person is considered to be in law enforcement custody if a reasonable person would believe that his or her freedom to leave is limited, regardless of whether the officials have formerly arrested the person.

To allow incriminating evidence admissible at trial, police need to provide the suspect with his or her Miranda warnings prior to getting the evidence. A suspect who is in police custody must be informed of their rights prior to any police questioning. If the suspect is arrested and the police do not intend to question the person then the Miranda statements do not have to be spoken.

If you have been charged with a violent or marijuana crime in Neptune NJ, do not speak to the police. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. Talk with a local Freehold NJ criminal lawyer.

Published by: Mark Owens on March 9th, 2010 | Filed under Uncategorized



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