What Are Your Miranda Rights?
Posted on Oct 17, 2009 1:46pm PDT
Anytime a person has been arrested for a criminal offense, law enforcement has a legal duty to read the person his/her Miranda Rights. The Miranda Rights inform people of two things. First, Miranda Rights inform people of their right to remain silent. This means that people do not have to answer any questions presented by law enforcement officers. Instead, they may remain quiet and forgo any statements.
Second, Miranda Rights inform people of their right to an attorney. If people do not have an attorney, they have the right to have public defenders appointed to their cases. This basic right allows people to call their lawyers or to hire lawyers after they have been accused, arrested or charged. In cases where people do not have defense attorneys, the county will grant them access to public defenders.
One issue people encounter while being arrested is that they are never read their Miranda Rights. When this happens, police are violating protocol and anything people say after their arrests may not be used against them in court. This means that if someone confessed to a crime and he/she was not read his/her Miranda Rights, the confession would not be admissible in court.
As you can see, Miranda Rights are extremely important as they inform people of their options as the criminal process commences. Anytime people are not read their rights, it is important that they speak with an experienced criminal defense lawyer who can provide them with the information and representation they need to obtain successful case results.
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