You Can Exercise Your Fifth Amendment Rights Even Without Pleading The Fifth Or Hearing The Miranda Warnings
This summer marks the 68th anniversary of Miranda v. Arizona, the Supreme Court decision where the Court ruled that police officers must notify a suspect in custody of his or her right to avoid self-incrimination before they begin questioning the suspect. When police have arrested someone and taken him or her to the police station, they may question the suspect, but only if they are sure that the suspect knows that he or she has the right not to respond to questions. Therefore, they must read the Miranda warnings, a set of notices about Fifth Amendment rights. The Supreme Court decision did not specify the exact words that officers must say, but they must notify suspects that they have the right to remain silent, and if the suspects choose to speak, anything they say can and will be used against them. They must also notify the suspects that they have the right to hire an attorney or to be represented, free of charge, by a public defender, and that it is the suspect’s right to have the lawyer present during questioning. Why, then, are there so many people serving prison sentences now, wishing that they had waited to speak to a lawyer or that they had asked their lawyers more questions. A Tampa criminal defense lawyer can help you exercise your Fifth Amendment rights, before and after a police officer reads the Miranda warnings.
Your Rights Apply Even Before a Police Officer Reads the Miranda Warnings
The law requires police officers to recite the Miranda warnings before they begin to question a subject in custody. Your right to remain silent applies even before then, though. In fact, you are almost never legally obligated to speak to a police officer. If a police officer stops you at a traffic stop or on foot and asks your name, you should answer truthfully, but other than that, you can and should keep your mouth shut. Anything you say and do in a police officer’s presence can be used against you, but your silence does not count legally as evidence of your guilt. If you are worried that your taciturnity is making you look guilty, invoke your Fifth Amendment rights by saying, “I wish to remain silent,” or, “I wish to speak to my lawyer.”
Exercising the Right to Remain Silent, or Just a Language Barrier?
Given Florida’s variegated linguistic landscape, there is no guarantee that the suspect an officer wants to question will understand English or any other language that the officer knows. The Fifth Amendment rights apply to everyone, not only to English speakers or U.S. citizens. If a suspect does not understand English, the police should bring an interpreter, who should translate the Miranda warnings before questioning begins.
Contact Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Bryant Scriven
A criminal defense lawyer can help you decide on a defense strategy before you decide to respond to questions from police. Contact Scriven Law in Tampa, Florida to schedule a consultation.
Sources:
mirandawarning.org/mirandarightspresentedtononenglishspeaker.html
findlaw.com/criminal/criminal-rights/miranda-rights-and-the-fifth-amendment.html#:~:text=Miranda%20rights%20(also%20known%20as,the%20right%20to%20an%20attorney.
