After an Arrest: Remaining Silent

The Fifth Amendment is clear—

 

“no person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime…nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.”

Law enforcement may or may not inform you of your rights, which means it is up to you to be informed and understand beforehand what your rights are.  One of those rights is remaining silent during an arrest or your Fifth Amendment.

Before interrogating an individual, police must provide them with their Miranda warnings and inform a person being arrested of their right to silence. This means law enforcement cannot use a suspect’s silence as evidence of guilt. If a suspect is not technically “in custody” police are obligated to let them know and that they are free to leave.

In order to keep the government from using your silence against you, you need to explicitly invoke your right to silence. Remaining silent during an arrest is your right as the 5th Amendment.  You need to say something to the effect that you are invoking your privilege against self-incrimination.

If you have been arrested and wisely choose to exercise your right to silence until you have had the chance to speak with a Houston criminal defense attorney, you need to make this known to whoever is interrogating you. There is an exact formula to invoke your Miranda right to silence; just clearly and briefly state you do not wish to speak with law enforcement.

Speak with The Martinez Law Firm today if you or a loved one has been arrested!