if they cathc more bad guys is that a bad thing? - Edit 1
Before modification by random thoughts at 02/06/2010 05:49:02 PM
Sorry to get technical here, but your statement neither guarantees you a lawyer nor your right to remain silent.
"Until my lawyer gets here" does not mean you are asking for a lawyer. You are only REQUIRED to be given a lawyer under the 6th amendment when proceedings have begun against you and you are an indigent defendant. You have a RIGHT to a lawyer under the 5th amendment if you need help with the custodial interrogation proceedings, but you must unequivocally request one. Saying you are waiting till your lawyer shows up is not an unequivocal statement, so you could sit in the interrogation room all dam day, and the police would be required to give you nothing.
"I'm not saying anything" is not an unequivocal statement that you are electing to use your right to be silent. Thus the police can continue to question you all day. In addition, under this new ruling your silence is a waiver of your constitution right until you definitively request them. This means an officers testimony of "He looked real nervous every time I would ask him a question, almost to the point of being in tears, but he still refused to open up to me." would be admissible as an impression of your silence. Now imagine how much guilt an officer could imply to a jury out of you being silent? Scary when you realize before this case they could do no such thing.
Also, for the post above you stating that something to the effect of "anyone who watches a cop show knows how to enforce their rights" is kind of off base. We should understand our rights as they are explained to us in the Miranda warning, we SHOULD NOT be required to watch legal or police dramas to understand the specific phrasing we need to utilize our rights. We should not have to click our heels three times and say "there's no right like Miranda," "there's no right like Miranda,""there's no right like Miranda" before we are allowed our Constitutional rights.
And as a final note, should we really have to state that we are demanding our basic constitutional rights before they can be enforced. If a cop is beating the crap out of me should I be required to say "Officer I am exercising my Due Process right, so I demand you stop the beating" before it is unconstitutional?
"Until my lawyer gets here" does not mean you are asking for a lawyer. You are only REQUIRED to be given a lawyer under the 6th amendment when proceedings have begun against you and you are an indigent defendant. You have a RIGHT to a lawyer under the 5th amendment if you need help with the custodial interrogation proceedings, but you must unequivocally request one. Saying you are waiting till your lawyer shows up is not an unequivocal statement, so you could sit in the interrogation room all dam day, and the police would be required to give you nothing.
"I'm not saying anything" is not an unequivocal statement that you are electing to use your right to be silent. Thus the police can continue to question you all day. In addition, under this new ruling your silence is a waiver of your constitution right until you definitively request them. This means an officers testimony of "He looked real nervous every time I would ask him a question, almost to the point of being in tears, but he still refused to open up to me." would be admissible as an impression of your silence. Now imagine how much guilt an officer could imply to a jury out of you being silent? Scary when you realize before this case they could do no such thing.
Also, for the post above you stating that something to the effect of "anyone who watches a cop show knows how to enforce their rights" is kind of off base. We should understand our rights as they are explained to us in the Miranda warning, we SHOULD NOT be required to watch legal or police dramas to understand the specific phrasing we need to utilize our rights. We should not have to click our heels three times and say "there's no right like Miranda," "there's no right like Miranda,""there's no right like Miranda" before we are allowed our Constitutional rights.
And as a final note, should we really have to state that we are demanding our basic constitutional rights before they can be enforced. If a cop is beating the crap out of me should I be required to say "Officer I am exercising my Due Process right, so I demand you stop the beating" before it is unconstitutional?