California Criminal Law Rights
It is a fundamental principal of criminal law throughout the US that everyone is innocent until they are proven guilty is a court of law. All individuals have a basic right to liberty and the presumption of innocence.
Thus when accosted by a police officer, sheriff or another member of the law enforcement establishment and accused of committing an infraction, misdemeanour or felony it is your right not to answer, not to deny or confess to such an accusation. In fact nothing you are made to say is admissible in court unless you have been read the so called “Miranda” rights. These rights were upheld in Miranda vs Arizona in 1966 where the courts held that no evidence elicited by interrogation of a suspect is admissible unless the prosecution can show that the defendant had the right to an attorney before and during questioning, and they have a right not to incriminate themselves.
If a suspect, after having been correctly read his Miranda rights, makes any statement whatsoever, that statement will be construed as him having voluntarily waived such rights. Furthermore the suspect may re-invoke his right of silence at any time during an interview, pleading the so called 5th amendment which is the right not to incriminate oneself. Miranda himself was forced to sign a confession after 2 days of intense interrogation without any attorney being offered or being made aware of any rights that he had.
In making the judgement the court specifically stated that any person in custody must be aware that they have the right not to say anything, and that anything they say subsequently may be used in court. They must be aware that they have the right to an attorney being present during interrogation and that this attorney may be court appointed but will then be duty bound to fight the suspect’s case as vigorously as possible. Furthermore the suspect has the right to re-invoke his right to silence at any stage during any interrogation and the law enforcement officers and state’s attorneys can do nothing to overrule the individual’s right in this matter.
These matters are particularly important for non-US citizens who are arrested and interrogated in connection with a criminal act. Any conviction of a felony and in some cases even a misdemeanour may result in the revocation of residence status within the United States. Thus it is very important that any immigrant living in the US is protected by having his Miranda rights read to him in a way that assures the court that they are understood.
In California many of these immigrants are Hispanic coming from South of the border, but there are m any others from other countries such as the Philippines, China Korea, Japan , Vietnam and so on, for whom English is not a first language.
It is the responsibility of the officers to ensure the suspect understands his rights. All suspects are entitled to call a Los Angeles Criminal Lawyer who will ensure that their rights under Miranda are protected. Even if they have been convicted of an offense there are many instances where a Southern CA Post Conviction Relief Attorney should be consulted to see if there are grounds for getting the conviction overturned.