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 asked give the answerer a reasonable cause to believe he is in danger from answering, because he would disclose information that would implicate himself in a crime. Ohio v. Reiner, 532 U.S. 17 (2001), citing Hoffman v. U.S., 351 U.S. 479 (1951). An innocent person may legitimately invoke the right to remain silent if he has a reasonable fear of prosecution, under the circumstances. Id.

To read a person his Miranda rights is to inform him of this privilege against self-incrimination. Police must read someone his rights before any questioning in a custodial situation. These rights include the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney and derive from a famous court case called Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966). After Miranda, courts have clarified that the right to remain silent must be unambiguously invoked by the defendant. For example, the suspect must tell police officers that he is choosing to exercise his right to remain silent. Simply saying nothing is not sufficient. Berghuis v. Thompkins, 560 U.S. 370 (2010).

After you invoke the right to remain silent, police may question you further if they wait a significant amount of time, read you your Miranda rights again, and limit their questions to a crime that was not the subject of the earlier questioning.

If you confess to a crime or otherwise incriminate yourself while being questioned in a custodial situation, but you have not been informed of your Miranda rights, your confession cannot be admitted against you in court. However, your confession may be used to challenge your credibility as a witness in certain situations. Further, your failure to unambiguously invoke your right to remain silent may be used against you in court. Salinas v. Texas, 133 S. Ct. 2174 (2013).

Note that in a DUI case, a traffic stop is not considered custodial interrogation. Police do not have to read you your rights while asking you for your driver’s license and insurance or during a sobriety test. Thus, any statements you make during the traffic stop could be used against you in court.

Have you been charged with a DUI in Oklahoma? Seek out the attorney who teaches other attorneys and law enforcement about sobriety testing techniques. Clint Patterson, Esq., of Patterson Law Firm, a former Tulsa prosecutor now using his trial experience and expert-level knowledge of DUI science to defend drivers, has the experience and the insight to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your case. To schedule a case evaluation, visit Patterson Law Firm online or call Clint’s office at (918) 550-9175.