Many people who have watched police dramas or true crime shows have likely seen people being told that they have the right to remain silent and the right to be represented by an attorney. Those rights are actually critical in real-life situations. They’re known as the Miranda rights, which are rooted in the United States Constitution and have been upheld by the United States Supreme Court.
The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution gives people the right to avoid self-incrimination. The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to have an attorney in specific criminal cases. It’s critical that anyone who’s being interrogated by police officers fully understand these rights and how to invoke them.
Invoking your Miranda rights
When police officers read you your rights, they aren’t automatically invoked. They are merely telling you what you have the right to do. You have to invoke those rights if you want them to apply to your case.
Invoking these rights requires you to be clear, but that doesn’t mean it’s complex. Making a simple statement is all that’s required. Some examples include:
- I choose to remain silent
- I invoke my Miranda rights
- I want to speak to an attorney
Once you invoke your rights, questioning must stop. You shouldn’t make any other statements. Police officers can’t call in new people to question you because the invocation applies to all law enforcement officers.
If police officers fail to inform you of your Miranda rights or don’t respect them when you invoke them, the case doesn’t automatically go away. However, it’s often possible to use those failures as part of a defense strategy. Doing this may be easier if you work with someone who’s familiar with these matters.
