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custodial interrogation Tag

Custodial Interrogation During Traffic Stops

Custodial Interrogation During Traffic Stops

The question of when custodial interrogation starts during traffic stops has challenged courts for many years. Choosing a definite rule as to when someone is in custody affects the timing of Miranda warnings. If a police officer waits too long to read Miranda warnings during a stop, the driver can challenge admissibility in court of any statements he makes after the stop becomes custodial but before the warnings are read. In one of many attempts to determine when “custodial interrogation” begins, the Supreme Court considered the case of Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420 (1984). In the case, a state police...

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What Kinds of Roadside Questions Require a Miranda Warning?

What Kinds of Roadside Questions Require a Miranda Warning?

Roadside questions from law enforcement – are they legal if you have not been given a Miranda warning? What kinds of questions can the police ask? Two key Supreme Court opinions in the cases of Berkemer v. McCarty and Pennsylvania v. Muniz address and (mostly) answer these common queries in the context of DUI cases. In Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420 (1984), a police officer pulled over a driver whose car was swerving in and out of its traffic lane. After the officer pulled over the driver and noticed his difficulty standing and slurred speech, the officer asked the driver...

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When Do You Have a Right to an Attorney After a DUI Arrest?

When Do You Have a Right to an Attorney After a DUI Arrest

The right to an attorney in a DUI case is the same right that you have in other criminal matters. You may be surprised to hear that the police can require you to take a breath test or standardized field sobriety tests before you have the right to an attorney. In fact, your right to have an attorney begins when any “custodial interrogation” begins, not when you are pulled over. “Custodial” means that a reasonable person would not feel free to leave the situation. Courts ask whether the situation presents the same coercive pressures as a “station house questioning” at the...

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Your Right to Remain Silent in DUI Cases

Your Right to Remain Silent in DUI Cases

Your silence could protect you in a DUI case. If you are worried about incriminating yourself when you speak to the police, “plead the Fifth” before or after an arrest. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States affords Americans this right, but far too few people know how to use it. The “right to remain silent” part of the Fifth Amendment reads: “No person … shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” Invoking the right is to refuse to answer a question because its implications and the circumstances under which it is...

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