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Police Traffic Stops: When Are Police Required To Give You Miranda Warnings?

Miranda v. Arizona is the groundbreaking case that required police officers to make each person detained for custody questioning (person not free to leave) aware of their constitutional rights to: (1) remain silent; (2) contact an attorney and discuss this case with an attorney before speaking to the police; and (3) that any statement you give to the police after you give up these rights can and will be used against you in court. This warning has been played hundreds and probably thousands of times on police TV shows, but does anyone really know when the cops have to give you the Miranda warning and when they can just talk to you? Hopefully this article sheds a bit of light on that.

However, before continuing, I want to remind you that this article is not intended to provide legal advice. It is intended for informational purposes only. You should not act based solely on this article, and If you are faced with a situation where you think this article may apply, contact and speak with an attorney.. Only they will be able to assess your specific situation and advise you appropriately on how to act.

As an example, let’s say you are driving down the highway in Kirkland. You’ve had a couple of beers during the day and you’ve smoked marijuana. On the way home, a police officer stands behind you and notices that you are drifting from one lane to another. Because he thinks he might be driving under the influence, he stops him to investigate. After walking to the car, the officer immediately realizes that you are not your normal self. After a very short time he decides that he is going to arrest you for driving under the influence of alcohol. But instead of arresting you, he asks you to take some field sobriety tests, which you fail. After arresting him, she puts him in the car, takes him to the station and performs a blood test to determine if he is under the influence of alcohol. At no time does he give the Miranda warnings. He is then charged with driving under the influence of drugs and / or alcohol.

The rule about when Miranda should be given is generally “[T]The prosecution cannot use statements, whether exculpatory or incriminating, derived from the private interrogation of [a] accused unless he demonstrates the use of effective procedural safeguards to secure the privilege against self-incrimination. By interrogation in custody, we mean interrogation initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been detained or deprived of their freedom of action in any significant way. “Basically, if they are under arrest or are not free to leave, and the Police are going to question you, they must give you Miranda.

But for traffic stops, when that happens is a difficult determination. For example, in the example above, was the guy no longer free to leave by the time the officer turned on the lights? If not, what happens when the officer determined that he was going to arrest the guy but kept asking him questions and asking him to run field sobriety tests? If not, surely it happened when he was actually arrested and placed in the back of the car? At any point, the guy could have thought he was under arrest and at that point he should have been informed of his rights to contact a Kirkland DUI attorney for help.

But proof is what a reasonable person would expect along with the officer’s duty to investigate crimes. Although somewhat changed by recent case law, in the past this guy would not have been required to receive Miranda’s warnings until he was placed in the car. However, that does not mean that he had to speak to the police. You could have invoked your right to remain silent and ask to speak to a Kirkland DUI attorney immediately after providing your license and registration if the officer asked you any questions (there is a reasonable expectation that you will provide the license and registration if you are driving a vehicle ).

So what is the lesson here? Just because you were not given Miranda does not mean that your statements will be considered evidence. Speak as little as possible if the police are asking you questions and invoke your right to remain silent early and often.

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