Words cannot express how grateful I am to you...
- Wendy C. 
Orange County Criminal Defense Lawyers 
Failure to Advise of Rights
In the U.S. legal justice system, people who are arrested have the right to remain silent. They do not have to talk to police or answer their questions. If they are charged with a crime and brought to trial, they do not have to speak or give testimony at the trial if they do not want to. People arrested or charged with a crime in Orange County also have the right to work with an attorney at many stages in the criminal justice process, especially if they have been charged with a felony.
When police take a suspect into custody and want to ask that person questions, they must first explain to the person that they have the right to remain silent, and that anything they say can be used against them in court to prove their guilt. They must also explain that the person has the right to talk to an attorney, and to have an attorney in the room with them while police ask questions. These basic rights are known as Miranda Rights. Named after the U.S. Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona, the Miranda rights are the basic rights any suspect has if they are in police custody and are being interrogated.
Miranda rights appear in many television shows whenever the police on the show arrest someone. As a result, many people believe that they aren't really "under arrest" unless they have heard the famous lines that begin, "You have the right to remain silent…" However, a person is "under arrest," or in police custody, if that person is not free to leave the scene. Even if police do not recite the familiar rights, anyone who has to stay where the police tell them to has the right to remain silent and to see an attorney.
Police cannot interrogate someone in custody unless they first make sure the person understand their Miranda rights and agrees to waive them, or give them up. If police fail to advise a person in custody about their Miranda rights, anything that person says to police may be suppressed and thrown out of court. If the information is suppressed, it cannot be used as evidence to prove that the defendant, or the person on trial, committed a crime.
The criminal courts also have an obligation to advise a person of their rights if they are charged with a crime. After an arrest is made, the arrested person who is still in police custody will usually see a judge within 72 hours. At this meeting, called an "arraignment," the judge must advise the arrested person of his rights. These include the right to stay silent, the right to the help of a competent attorney, the right to have a trial, and the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty at trial beyond a reasonable doubt. A person also has the right to have the rights explained to them in a language that they know and in words they understand.
The failure to advise a person of their legal rights when required can result in improperly-gathered evidence being thrown out of court. An experienced criminal defense lawyer understands when it's necessary to advise someone of his rights and will fight to protect the rights of the accused before, during, and after trial. At Takakjian & Sitkoff, LLP, our Orange County criminal defense attorneys have been defending the rights of individuals arrested for DUI and other crimes for over two decades, lending us over 80 years of combined experience and resources to build strong defenses. We have a wide range of DUI knowledge from having prior experience as former DUI prosecutors as well as DUI arrest and prosecution procedure instructors to local law enforcement. Contact us today to find out how we can help you stay out of jail. Call (888) 579-4844.
