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Question: When taken into custody is the police office required to read you the Miranda Rights?

Answer: A police officer is required to read a person his/her Miranda Rights when two conditions are present.

-First, the person is 'in custody.'

-Second, the police officer is asking questions of the person.

If the police officer does not read the person his/her Miranda Rights when those two conditions apply, any statements made by the individual cannot be used against him in court as the statement will be suppressed (not allowed in court as evidence by the judge).

If a person is in custody and the police do not ask questions of him, but he volunteers information without being asked, then those statements can be used against him in court. Likewise, if a police officer asks a person questions and he is not in custody then the statements can be used in court.


Comments
1 thru 5 of 14 comments
On 05/11/06
brad w from OH said:
me and my freinds were trying to ahve fucn we had nothin to do after school we went into a building which was stupid of doin and we was smokin pot and the police came and arrested us and didnt read us our ights (miranda violation) my freind asked if they could be read and the cop said to shut up and im still waiting to go to court they got us with a bowl but no weed bc we smoked it all
On 05/27/04
katrina dority from OK said:
i was arrested may 21 my name was in the paper for food stamp fruad and my mother in law came and told me well i didnt now anything about it so i told her to take to the court house to straiten it out.when we got there they looked everything up and said yes its her they are after and said i had a warrent out and effiective so all the sudden the cops were behind me and arrested me they did not give me a chance to try to find ouyt what was going on they took me in front of my 2 kids. they never read me my right they took me down staires and asked qestions can they do that not read my rights.
On 04/28/04
tammy from FL said:
At school some kid approached me and asked me to buy him a slushie, I agreed, I realized i owed money on my account, and asked my friend to buy it.As she was buying the slushie i was talking to damien, and he told me it was fake, and we were really freaked out. I refused to answer any questions, and they arrested me with out reading me my rights, and then he still tried getting me to answer questions.
On 04/19/04
Dave from AZ said:
Police usually make arrests based on arrest warrants without having the warrant on hand. Warrants are tracked electronically by computers. Before making this type of arrest, the police officer will confirm that a hard copy of the warrant exists. Usually officers don't read miranda warnings when making an arrest relative an arrest warrant because there is no investigation to be conducted; therefore, there is no need to ask any questions. The officer's function is basically to transport the subject to jail.
On 04/13/04
Matt Magestica from NJ said:
I was recently arrested for criminal mischeif because i was witnessed messing with a broken light. I was with four friends who were also jumping up and reaching for the ceiling and were touching the already broken light 2.We were waiting for our ride and a cop pulled up and was yelling at us right off the bat.He accused me automaticaly and never gave me a chance to say what happend. He only took the witness's word not ours.With out even telling me, he arrested just me and didn't read me my rights.He brought just me to the station, charged me with criminal mischeif ,and didn't even question me.
1 thru 5 of 14 comments



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