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Blog 2020 August What Do Your Miranda Rights Mean?
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What Do Your Miranda Rights Mean?

Posted By Jerry Loftin & Associates || 5-Aug-2020

A Breakdown of Your Miranda Warning

Your Miranda Rights are a critical element of your legal rights and play a significant role when you’re in police custody. The purpose of your Miranda Warning is to notify you of your right to not make self-incriminating statements, as protected by the Fifth Amendment.

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?”

These are the words that an officer must say verbatim before interrogating you while you’re in custody. Your Miranda Rights are so essential to the justice system that if an officer fails to accurately read your Miranda Rights, your criminal case may get dismissed altogether.

Let’s take a closer look at what each part of your Miranda Rights means:

You have the right to remain silent: This means that the law protects your choice to remain silent when an officer attempts to question you, although you aren’t required to remain silent. To exercise this right in a situation, you must be direct to reduce the likelihood of confusion and accidentally making self-incriminating statements. Examples include:

  1. “I choose to remain silent”
  2. “I am exercising my right to remain silent”
  3. “I won’t speak without my attorney present”

Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law: As stated, your words can and will be used against you in court. The court will go above and beyond to twist your words in a way that’s most destructive to you. Thus, during and after your arrest, your words become a powerful tool that could help or harm you, so choose them wisely or don’t speak at all.

You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you: When the police interrogate you, you don’t have to respond without an attorney present. This is in part because you may accidentally make self-incriminating statements, therefore an attorney can provide the legal counsel you need to best avoid that during your encounter with the police.

Not everyone can afford an attorney, therefore a public defender can represent you for free. It is important for the police to read this full statement regarding an attorney, otherwise, one might think they must represent themselves due to their inability to hire a private lawyer.

Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?: This question gives you the opportunity to confirm or deny your understanding of your Miranda rights that the officer read to you. You may address any ambiguities, if applicable, and ask other clarifying questions if needed.

With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?: You may engage in an interrogation if you want to, but only if you want to. By law, you are not required to submit to an interrogation without an attorney present, but you may waive your rights to remain silent and have an attorney at your discretion. Be careful, though. Don’t let your decisions backfire.

Our Fort Worth criminal defense attorneys at Jerry Loftin & Associates are deeply familiar with your Miranda Rights and how they can be mishandled by the police. Interfering factors can prohibit you from fully hearing and understanding your Miranda Warning, which can hurt your case. Thus, it’s important to exercise your right to speak to an attorney as soon as possible so your rights can be protected and upheld at every stage of the process.

Our criminal defense attorneys can be by your side the moment you give us a call. We strongly advise against speaking to the police because you may end up digging a deeper hole for yourself. Don’t let this happen to you. Let us help.

Contact (817) 591-7850 to schedule a free consultation with our Fort Worth criminal defense team. Your fight is our fight.

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