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Another miranda question

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A

Anomaly

Guest
I was arrested at a rave for public intoxication. I believe my case stands a very good chance of being dismissed, but there is one question that has been bothering me.

This is how it happened:
I was not feeling well, I had been dancing and I felt like I was going to pass out. As I lost my balance and fell to my knees a police officer came up to me and flashed his light in my eyes. He asked me to follow him. I followed him out of the dance area into a hallway where he began to ask me questions. At first I denied any drug use but after the cop appeared to not believe me I decided I would tell him what he wanted to hear and he would let me go because I cooperated. I was obviously wrong. After telling him that I had eaten ecstacy he took me outside searched me and searched my car (found nothing) and then arrested me.

My question:
Can my confession be used against me in court. I wasn't read my rights until I faced the judge AT my hearing and since then I have said nothing. Also, If the confession cannot be used will it even make a difference. I do not intend to have a trial by jury and in order to keep it out of court I have to ask the judge to supress it, and the judge is the person I want to keep it from!

I was arrested in Bullit County Kentucky

Thanks,
Anomaly

[Edited by Anomaly on 01-11-2001 at 01:06 AM]
 


L

lawrat

Guest
I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

An interrogation is where the police ask questions with the purpose of getting information about a crime from a suspect or a witness. If a person is “in custody”, then the police must give Miranda warnings; i.e., “read you your rights” before they can interrogate. The point of reading people their rights is to make sure any statements/confessions (answers to the police questions) are voluntary. In other words, the person in custody is answering police questions because he wants to, not because he is being threatened, coerced or beaten up. However, the question of when a person is “in custody” is not always clear. “In custody” does not always mean “under arrest”. Another way to think about whether a person is in custody is whether their movement /freedom is restricted in any way. The main point to remember about interrogations is that you never have to answer the police officers’ questions, no matter what they say or how they try to convince you it will help you to cooperate.


Your attorney can request the court to suppress any involuntary statements made by you in violation of your Miranda rights. Whether that would be enough to cause a dismissal of your case would depend on what other evidence exists against you.



The police officer does not have to read anybody their "rights" unless that officer wants to get a statement or confession from a suspect. If the officer does not want to record what you have to say and use it against you, he does not have to read you your rights.

However, if the officer wants to ask you some questions other than your name and address, he must advise you that you don’t have to answer his questions, that if you do, anything you say can be used against you and that you have a right to a lawyer before you answer any questions. It is amazing how many people will answer the officer’s questions in some vein attempt to cooperate which gives their defense attorney headaches trying to defend the case later on.


These were all courtesy of the freeadvice.com arrests and searches section of the homepage under CRIMINAL LAW.
 

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