Understanding Miranda Warnings

March 8th, 2010 by Mark Owens

You’ve heard them before. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” Typically, folks believe that a police officer needs to provide every individual whom they stop or with whom they speak their Miranda rights. However, that is not true. The Supreme Court has decided who needs to be informed of these rights and when.

While, Miranda statements are based on the famous Supreme Court case, Miranda v. Arizona, the protections do not have their start in that case. Rather, the freedoms that we refer to as the Miranda rights are constitutional rights which the court decided needed to be provided to certain people in law enforcement custody.

The particular constitutional freedoms that are commonly referred to 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 determined that the warnings contain at least the same level of specificity as it set out in its ruling and that the warnings be meaningful for the stopped individuals.

Most states add additional warnings to the typical Miranda warnings that they think are important for the people in their jurisdictions. For example, some border states require law enforcement 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 a person who is a criminal suspect and in law enforcement custody before they begin to question the person about the circumstances surrounding the legal matter. The person is considered to be in police custody if a reasonable individual would believe that his or her freedom to leave is impeded, regardless of whether the officers have formerly arrested the individual.

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

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.