The right to remain silent

When do you have the right to remain silent?

"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say or do can and will be used against you in a court of law."

This is the line you hear on TV any time someone is getting arrested. This sentence is referred to as the Miranda rights. Because of the first part of the sentence being so commonly used, almost everyone we arrest wants to know if we are going to read them their Miranda rights. What a lot of people do not know, however, is that Miranda rights do not have to be read when someone is arrested; rather only when someone is in custody and law enforcement officers want to ask them incriminating questions.

There are many times when there is enough evidence that a crime has been committed that deputies do not need to ask the suspect any questions.

Miranda rights came from the landmark case Miranda v Arizona in 1966 when the United States Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that both inculpatory and exculpatory statements during interrogation of a suspect in police custody would only be admissible at trial if the prosecution can show that the suspect was informed of the right to consult with an attorney before and during questioning and of the right against self-incrimination prior to questioning by police, and that the defendant not only understood these rights, but had voluntarily waived them.

On March 13, 1963, Ernesto Miranda was arrested by the Phoenix Police Department for kidnapping and raping an 18-year-old girl 10 days earlier.

Police interrogated Miranda for two hours. After questioning Miranda, he signed a confession ,admitting to the rape charge on a form that included the statement, "I do hereby swear that I make this statement voluntarily and of my own free will, with no threats, coercion, or promises of immunity, and with full knowledge of my legal rights, understanding any statement I make may be used against me."

Although it is clear by the last statement that police would use the confession against Miranda, the Supreme Court said that Miranda was not told of his right to legal advice, or his right to remain silent if he wanted to.

No one wants someone to get away with a crime because some paper work was not completed correctly, but this was also a case of someone's constitutional rights being violated.

The Fifth Amendment protects someone from being forced to say anything that would incriminate themselves, and the Sixth Amendment gives everyone the right to an attorney unless they have been told of these rights and want to waive them.

Cops want to catch the bad guy; that's what we do!

But law enforcement officers must follow and uphold the Constitution because even though it appears that these "rules" sometimes help the bad guy, they also protect the innocent.

So, even though we may not read someone their Miranda rights every time we make an arrest, any time we want to ask them any questions, we let the suspect know: "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford to hire an attorney, one will be provided for you at government expense."