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Do you know about your Miranda rights?

On Behalf of | May 19, 2021 | Criminal Defense |

The Miranda warnings come from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling called Miranda v. Arizona. In this Supreme Court ruling, individuals in the United States were granted the right to stay silent and the right to a lawyer. Read below to learn more about your Miranda rights in Paducah, Kentucky.

To invoke your Miranda rights, certain criteria must be met

Police will only give you a Miranda warning if you are either in police custody or are being interrogated. Therefore, if you say something incriminating to the police outside of these two circumstances, you have essentially waived your Miranda rights.

The police cannot use intimidation for a confession

In general, any information that you willing give to a police officer after he or she has read you your Miranda warning can be used at trial. However, the police cannot coerce you or intimidate you into giving up information. For example, the police cannot deprive you of sleep during an interrogation. If they do so, then whatever you have said can be rendered inadmissible.

The Miranda warning can change depending on your jurisdiction

The way in which police officers read you your Miranda rights can vary depending on what police department the police work for. One of the most common variants of the Miranda warnings is for them to ask you if you understand the rights that they have read to you. If a police officer gives you some variation of this, it is important that you verbally respond to it. In most cases, silence is not a sufficient response for a criminal defense case.

What are some other things you need to know about your Miranda rights?

On top of the police informing you of your right to remain silent and informing you that you have a right to remain silent, the police must also inform you that you can have a lawyer present during the interrogation. If you cannot afford to hire an attorney, you have the right to have an attorney appointed to you. If you choose to use your right to remain silent, the interrogation needs to stop immediately.

If you have been wrongfully interrogated, you may need to speak with an attorney. In many cases, you have nothing to worry about, because the police will make sure you understand your right to remain silent. However, you can’t always count on the police to act properly.

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