DUI Arrests – Do The Police Have to Read You Miranda Rights?

Do the Police Have to Read You Miranda Rights? As a DUI Lawyer Orange County, I see questions like this all the time:

I got pulled over and arrested and got charged with DUI but the cop never read me any of my miranda rights when he arrested me so could i use that to get out possibly or could it help me somehow

Ignore for now the poor grammar and lack of any punctuation. Could not reading Miranda rights cause a defendant “to get out” of a DUI? Or can it help somehow? And do the police have to read You Miranda rights?

For DUI cases, the answer is, “probably not”, and “depends heavily on the facts of the stop and arrest.” Miranda rights apply to custodial interrogations — that is, questioning, or interrogation, while in custody.

If the only evidence that you were DUI is your confession, or admission, that you were driving drunk, which has to be rare, then excluding those confessions or admissions (which is the remedy for a violation of your Miranda or Fifth Amendment rights) could cause those statements to be removed from the case, which might cause the face to fall apart.

More likely, however, there were both non-custodial observations, such as bloodshot, watery eyes, an unsteady gait, and an odor of alcohol, and a breath, or a blood, test. Those are unlikely to be fixed by removing whatever statements were made in response to interrogation that occurred without a reading of rights under Miranda.

The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prevents you from being a witness in a case against you, and provides your right to remain silent. Should your case go to a motion, you would have the right to bring a motion to suppress your statements and admissions as to drinking.

Do the Police Have to Read You Miranda Rights? A more thorough discussion about this issue is on our website, under the heading “DUI And Miranda Rights”.

Contact our DUI Defense Firm if you need a DUI Attorney to handle your case.