Miranda Law Answer: It depends. If a Eugene or Portland cop was required by law to read you your Miranda rights due to a custodial interrogation (and didn’t read them to you) and interrogated you anyway, then the statements are suppressed. However, if there is other compelling evidence against you, the case will probably not be dismissed.
Failing to read you your Miranda rights is not a free ticket or a get-out-of-jail-free card. It is not a magic bullet. It’s just one way to suppress your statements, along with involuntariness.
A voluntary encounter with the police where your liberty is not restrained does not require Miranda warnings. That’s called a conversation. In America, you can just walk away. You only get advised of your Miranda rights if you are being interrogated while in an arrest-like setting.
If you invoke your right to remain silent or ask for an attorney, the police are required to stop asking questions. If they do, the answers are suppressed. This does not mean your case is dismissed.
Miranda Warnings in Oregon DUII Cases
In a DUII (driving under the influence) case, if you are ordered to step out of a car in Oregon for field sobriety tests, then police officers should read you your Miranda warnings. If they do not, your attorney should file a motion to suppress and file it in the Eugene Municipal Court or the Lane County Circuit Court, if your case is there. This Miranda law motion could get your admissions about drinking and impairment suppressed. If the police officer relied on your illegally gained statement, then, under the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine, the breath test or the breath test refusal might be suppressed.
What are the Miranda rights?
You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to an attorney. If cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you. The State of Oregon has the burden of proving that you were read and understood those Miranda rights. Typically, the officer reads the rights from a Miranda card.
These rights come from the Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel and the Fifth Amendment Right to Remain Silent (“pleading the Fifth”). The case that imposed these rights to be read was Miranda v. Arizona.
Attorneys in Criminal Defense and Oregon Miranda Law
For more information from an Oregon criminal defense attorney that has experience litigating Miranda motions in court, call Portland and Eugene-based criminal defense attorneys at 541-797-0110. Text or call 24/7.