Miranda | Must Speak Up to Remain Silent

Tampa Criminal Defense Expert, Attorney, and Lawyer, has just completed a review of today's ruling on custodial interrogations by police. The United States Supreme Court under Miranda, just ruled you must speak up to remain silent. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U. S. 436. The cops interrogated a defendant, he never said he wanted to remain silent, that he did not want to talk with the police, or that he wanted an attorney. In fact, the defendant was mostly silent during the three-hour interrogation. Silence during interrogation does not invoke the right to remain silent. Miranda right to counsel must be invoked unambiguously. See Davis v. United States, 512 U. S. 452, 459. The Court rejected coercion: 1. The defendant did not claim police threatened or injured him or that he was fearful; 2.  The interrogation took place in a standard-sized room in the middle of the day; 3. A 3-hour interrogation is not inherently coercive.

Source: Berghuis v. Thompkins, No. 08-1470 United States .Supreme Court (June 1, 2010)


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