As absurd as this is, you must explicitly say that you are invoking your right to remain silent in order to invoke that right.ģ) “I am invoking my right to an attorney.”Īs stated above, you must be not only clear and unambiguous, but clear and legally unambiguous. Simply staying silent will not invoke your right to remain silent. Miranda rights only apply if the interrogation is custodial, meaning that police officers will frequently claim that their suspects were “not in custody” to get around their Miranda rights.Ģ) “I am invoking my right to remain silent.” Even if the officer does not let you leave, by forcing them to admit that you are not free to leave, you are creating a record which your attorney can use to prove that you were in custody.
It’s worth asking this even if the answer is obvious. Here are the magic phrases which you need to know if you want to invoke your Miranda rights: “I think I should have a lawyer present for this.”Īnd perhaps most egregiously – “Get me a lawyer, dawg – ‘cause this is not what’s up.” “Maybe I should speak to my lawyer first.”
Here are some more “ambiguous” phrases which courts have found DO NOT invoke your right to a lawyer: I am a lawyer who works in criminal defense, and this is one of the most avoidable things that people consistently get wrong about the Miranda rights.
