Your Miranda Rights and Police Questioning.

Your Miranda Rights and Police Questioning.

You are in custody. You are handcuffed and in the back of a police car. You are not free to leave.

The normal human impulses are to try to talk your way out, explain your side of the story and loudly complain that you don’t know why you’re under arrest. 

Don’t give in to that impulse.                                

When you find yourself in these circumstances it’s important to remember your constitutional rights:

 The right to say nothing in response to police questioning.

 The right to get advice from an attorney before you even speak to a police officer.

 The right to be represented by counsel and have him or her present during police questioning.
    
    These rights are known as Miranda Rights, named for the U.S. Supreme Court case that ruled police officers must tell these to every citizen who is in custody for suspicion of committing a crime.

    Now the Supreme Court case has made it clear that when you are questioned by the police, you must specifically and clearly say: “I invoke my  Miranda rights.”

    Incredibly the Supreme Court ruled that remaining silent while being aggressively being questioned does mean that you invoked your right to remain silent.

    Now the Supreme Court has gutted the Miranda Rights warning and ruled that the warnings merely need convey that the person arrested has “constitutional rights.”

    You must be “informed” of your Miranda rights when: (1) you are in custody and (2) the police are questioning you.

    If you volunteer information without questioning or if police question you while you are not in custody, the police don’t have to read you your Miranda rights.

More now than ever, it’s important to know you have a constitutional right to remain silent and to consult with your attorney before answering police questions, and to have your attorney present while being questioned.

    Use your Miranda Rights.

Attorney Martin E. Regan, Jr.,

About Martin E. Regan, Jr.

Year after year, Martin E. Regan Jr., the firm’s senior partner, has dedicated tireless efforts on behalf of the accused and produce wins for clients that a less determined advocate would have thought hopeless.  Martin E. Regan Jr.’s ability to tackle and win tough criminal cases has resulted in verdicts of acquittal in many highly publicized trials.