You probably understand that you have the right to remain silent if you
are under arrest, and you may assume that you have this right outside
of police custody too. You may have been right a few months ago, but now
a new Supreme Court ruling has influenced your constitutional rights.
On June 17, 2013, the Supreme Court made a ruling on a murder case. What
had happened is that police were interviewing a suspect while he was outside
of police custody. This means that he was not being officially interrogated,
detained, or arrested. This also means he had not heard any
Miranda rights. As he was cooperating with the police, an officer asked the suspect
if the suspect’s gun would turn out to be the murder weapon. The suspect
gave no answer and shuffled nervously. The officer continued to talk with
the suspect. Finally, the suspect faced murder charges, and prosecutors
used the man’s non-response to the gun question. The Supreme Court
agreed that the prosecutor could use this as evidence, because the suspect
had not expressly invoked his Fifth Amendment rights. This ruling came
down to a tight vote.
What this now means is that silence can be used against you when you are
outside police custody—unless you take specific action. You have
to literally say that you want to invoke your Fifth Amendment rights,
something along the lines of, “I want to use my right to remain silent.”
Otherwise, a prosecutor might say that you did not clearly protect this
right. This ruling places the burden on a person to remember this legal
action before he or she can be reminded by
Miranda warnings or through consulting a lawyer.
If you face any criminal charges, and if you have any questions about your
constitutional rights, please do not hesitate to
contact Hopper Law Firm PLLC. We have the experience and dedication you need.