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Supreme Court Decides Your Silence May Be Used Against You
crackspackle writes "The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the State of Texas earlier today in a murder trial where the defendant, prior to be taken into custody, had been questioned by the police and chose to remain silent on key questions. This fact was bought up at trial and used to convict him. Most of us have seen at least enough cop shows to know police must read a suspect their Miranda rights when placing them in custody. The issue was a bit murkier here in that the defendant had not yet been detained and while we all probably thought the freedom from self-incrimination was an implicit right as stated in the Constitution, apparently SCOTUS now thinks you have to claim that right or at least be properly mirandized first."
It appears that if you are "free to leave at any time" you lose a few rights. Fancy trick, up there with getting kids to write apology letters.
You always have your rights... it's just a question of if and how you exercise them.
The difference here is the guy who went to talk to the police on his own (ie voluntarily) vs being arrested (ie unwillingly).
The court ruled that in the prior, you have to make an affirmative statement as to you exercising your 5a rights.
Help Brendan pay off his student loans
This is not a new right. I just passed CA Bar exam, so I can tell you -- police cannot use post-Miranda silence against you, but they can use pre-Miranda silence against you, and it has been this way for a long time.
But this is a matter of the prosecution can bring it up and ask you -- "Hey you were talking and talking to the police about the murder, but when they asked you if ballistics tests would link your shotgun to the murder you suddenly got quiet, why is that?" -- which is what happened here.
I'm going to drop this here.
It's a wonderful introduction to the issues at play, simplified enough to be easily understood, but not so simple as to be irrelevant.
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
So rights are a privilege now to be dictated by loose wording and interpretation...fuck. that. shit....oh wait...should be old news in light of all the other bullshittery USDOJ spews.
Not only that... Rights are a privilege to be handed out by the police.
Texas justice comes to the rest of the USA.
Not a lawyer, but a former police officer. Still not legal advice.
The deal is that there is an intermediate state, typically referred to as "investigative detention." In short, you're not under arrest (in the handcuffs-go-to-jail sense), but neither are you free to go. An individual can be detained pursuant to an investigation. Once involvement (or lack thereof) is determined, then the person is dealt with in the appropriate manner (arrested or released). There are limits for how long a person can be detained this way, and as I recall, it is a "seizure" in the fourth amendment sense, so there needs to be reasonable suspicion in order for the police to detain an individual.
Reasonable suspicion means "facts and circumstances that would lead a reasonable officer to believe that a crime has been, is being, or will be committed." It lacks anything about a particular person, which is what distinguishes reasonable suspicion from probable cause (the standard for an arrest, which is similar, except that it's "... believe that a particular person has committed, is committing, or will commit a crime.")
Tex-ASSholes fucking our rights up again.
Guess it means you have to be an asshole about your rights.
What this really means?
If the cops come up, tell them GO AWAY. Refuse to talk to them. Say "5th Amendment, go away" until they leave.
If they refuse to leave, tell them to leave your property as they have no right to be there.
If they refuse to leave still, and you're not in your own home, walk away. If they decide to detain you, it's on them.
Your answer to them at ALL TIMES, even if they ask your name, is "5th Amendment."
Sucks, but that's what the Supreme Court has given us. Either be an asshole about protecting your rights, or you'll lose your rights.