The Miranda rule/right is based on the historic Miranda v. Arizona case way back 1966.
The rule requires the police to inform a person about the Fifth Amendment right before being taken to custody to avoid self-incriminating statements.
Basically, these rights include:
1. You have the right to remain silent
2. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law
3. You have the right to an attorney
4. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you
The law enforcement officer must always give the Miranda rights to the suspect who is in custody.
Otherwise, the statements and the evidences from the suspect will most likely be inadmissible in court.
However, if a police officer is responding to a potential emergency,
he or she doesn’t have to read the rights to the suspect.
Origin of the Emergency Exception
Exception to the Miranda rule was found to be necessary based on the People v. Doll case in New York in 2013.
In this case
the suspect who was in custody still wore the blood stains of his victim on his skin and clothing.
Since the authorities know that they still need to help the victim who is in immediate danger,
the court found that reading the Miranda rule was no longer necessary.
Even if the Miranda rule weren’t read,
the statements and evidences from the suspect were still used and
lead to the suspect’s second degree murder conviction.
In this case
the suspect who was in custody still wore the blood stains of his victim on his skin and clothing.
Since the authorities know that they still need to help the victim who is in immediate danger,
the court found that reading the Miranda rule was no longer necessary.
Even if the Miranda rule weren’t read,
the statements and evidences from the suspect were still used and
lead to the suspect’s second degree murder conviction.
When to Apply the Emergency Doctrine
If there is basis for immediate help involving injury and property damage, then the authorities can detain and interrogate a suspect without having to read the Miranda rule.
The officers shouldn’t have any hidden agenda or any secret motivation to arrest the suspect or seize evidences. Also, there should be enough reason to believe that there is an emergency.
For the People v. Doll case, the court found that the blood stains on the suspect’s skin and clothes can justify the failure of the officer to read the Miranda rule.
The police officer that time has reason to believe that there was someone who was seriously injured nearby.
Public Safety
Besides emergency exception, reading the Miranda rights can be disregarded when public safety is threatened.
If a suspect hides a gun in a busy downtown area, the police officer has no time to read the Miranda rule.
Things may happen very fast and the suspect may have already shot someone else while the authorities read him or her Miranda rules.
In this case, failure to read the Warnings will be allowed and the statements and evidences from the suspect can be used in the court of law.
Look for a Criminal Defense Attorney
After the New York case and countless other cases, there have been many circumstances when the Miranda requirement can be exempted.
There are cases when you have to unequivocally state that you want to exercise your right to an attorney or to remain silent.
You should immediately seek help from a tenured criminal defense attorney in such cases.
Don’t just rely on the police officer to read you your rights, seek expert help from an attorney right away
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