Miranda Warning

What it Means and Why It’s Important to Your Case

After the U.S. Supreme Court case of Miranda v. Arizona, police arrests would change forever. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on this case affirmed that any citizen taken into custody by police cannot be questioned by police until they have read him or her the constitution’s Fifth Amendment, which is the right not to make any self-incriminating statements.

So with the decision of the Miranda case came police everywhere being instructed on the Miranda rights. In fact, before police can take you into custody by arresting you, they must first inform you of your rights: You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.

Let’s say for instance you were arrested and charged with DUI in your state. While handcuffing you the police are telling you that you are being arrested for DUI because you failed a field sobriety test and your breath test measured over the state’s legal limit of .08%. Instead of reading you your Miranda rights and telling you about your right not to self-incriminate yourself, they asked you to confess to drinking and driving. Thinking it’s best not to go against the police, you lie and say that you were drinking and driving. There’s just one problem. You were not read your right to remain silent!

In fact, what you didn’t know is that the reason you failed your field sobriety test is that you have severe arthritis and it is painful for you to balance on one leg. You also didn’t know that the breathalyzer machine was not functioning properly that night. Your experienced DUI lawyer will unearth the truth in court. Since police did not read you your Miranda rights, the field sobriety test results and the breath test results cannot be used as evidence in court and your case is dismissed.