Anyone who’s ever watched a police drama has likely heard the officer telling someone that they have specific rights, including remaining silent and speaking to an attorney. Those rights are rooted in the United States Constitution and are known as the Miranda rights after a case that went before the United States Supreme Court in 1966.
The Miranda rights are required when a person is in custody and being interrogated. This means that if police arrest someone or are holding them in custody and want to question them, they must inform them of their rights. If they fail to do this, anything that is said during the custodial interrogation can’t be used in a case against the person.
Miranda rights must be invoked
While police officers have to tell people their rights, the rights don’t automatically go into effect. People can waive or invoke them. Waiving them means that they don’t want the protection and are speaking to the officers of their own free will.
Invoking the Miranda rights means that they want those protections. This must be done in a very clear manner. Unambiguous statements, such as “I choose to remain silent” or “I invoke my Miranda rights,” are sufficient.
Once the Miranda rights are invoked, the officers have to cease questioning. They can’t get new people to resume the questioning. The invocation covers all custodial interrogations.
Miranda rights violations can be critical components in a criminal case. Having statements suppressed can be a complex undertaking, so it may be best to work with someone familiar with this type of defense strategy if police continued to question you after you invoked your Miranda rights.