What Happens If Police Don’t Read Me My Miranda Rights?

Understanding Custodial Interrogation and Your Legal Protections

A Miranda violation doesn’t automatically dismiss the case against you, but it may allow your attorney to exclude any statements you made from being introduced into evidence at trial.

Police are required to read you your Miranda rights only when you are subject to a custodial interrogation — meaning you are not free to leave, and officers are questioning you about a crime they believe you committed.

Determining whether you were “in custody” can be complex. A skilled criminal defense attorney must examine the circumstances — such as location, tone, and police conduct — to argue that you were, in fact, in custody for Miranda purposes.

When Miranda Rights Do Not Apply

Two common situations where police do not have to read Miranda rights include:

• Traffic Stops: During routine stops, questions like “Where are you coming from?” or “Have you been drinking?” are lawful, and your answers can be used against you.
• Voluntary Interviews: If you agree to meet with police and are free to leave at any time, statements you make can generally be used in court.

What Happens If Police Violate Your Miranda Rights

If you were in custody and interrogated without first being advised of your Miranda rights, your defense attorney can file a motion to suppress any statements you made.
If the judge grants that motion, those statements cannot be used against you at trial — except to challenge your testimony if you later say something inconsistent.

When Should You Invoke Your Miranda Rights?

This answer is simple and clear: You should invoke your Miranda Rights, specifically your right to remain silent and your right to an attorney, from the very beginning of any police interaction – whether you think you have committed a crime or not.

The police are trained to take advantage of social norms and say things such as “if you just tell the truth I can help you out of this” or “we are just trying to get your side of the story before we make any decisions” in order to get you to make statements that they can use against you.

The police are also allowed to lie to you and say things like “you aren’t in trouble” or “well someone already talked to us and told us that you do it.”

Everyone has the common sense to not just blurt out to the police that you committed the crime. However it is usually the most innocent of statements that ends up being the most damaging of the case. For example:

If you say something like “Well when I was at the party, all the jewelry was still on the counter and I have no idea what happened to it all.” You may make this statement thinking it’s not incriminating and you are actually denying your involvement and helping your case. When in fact, what you just did is admit that you were at the party. These types of consequences result in limiting the available defenses your lawyer could use to help you.

The fact is that by the time the police are talking to you, the decision has already been made to arrest you. There is nothing you can say that will prevent it. Also anything you say that would actually be helpful to your case is not admissible at trial under our rules of evidence, whereas anything you say that the Prosecution thinks will prove their case comes into evidence automatically.

How Should I Invoke My Miranda Rights?

Often people will make statements to police because they don’t want to seem rude, or appear guilty, or think that their silence will somehow prevent the police from solving the crime they are investigating.

As soon as police begin to ask you questions about a potential crime, say something such as: “I really want to cooperate with you and your investigation, but I would just feel better if I had my lawyer here or if I could speak with them first”.

As soon as you make a request for a lawyer, by law the police must stop asking you questions. Be careful however, because the police are also allowed to come back and ask if you’ve changed your mind, or even try to urge you to change your mind (i.e. “we really don’t need to be getting lawyers involved, and I don’t want to take up a ton of time to bring you into court and take time off of work, are you sure you don’t want to just talk to use now quickly?”

Bottom Line:

Once you speak to a lawyer you can make informed decisions about whether you’d like to cooperate with the police investigation or not. Do not waive your own rights and help prove a case against yourself. Ask for a lawyer immediately and remain silent until you speak with one.