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Baltimore Case: Miranda Rights Need Not Be Verbatim To Count

By Neil Shous, Esq.

State attorneys are celebrating after the Maryland Supreme Court ruled that a detective who told a murder suspect she could ?get a lawyer at some point? if she could not afford one now did not misstate her Miranda rights. Just because the detective did not state the Miranda warning verbatim does not mean that he violated the rights of the suspect, according to the Supreme Court. They cited a California ruling that an officer need not ?incant? the Miranda warning verbatim. What does this mean for people who are pulled over and read a non-verbatim version of the Miranda warning? Essentially, if the content of the Miranda rights is intact, the form does not matter in the eyes of the law. But do the Miranda rights really protect you against statements you make to incriminate yourself? Unfortunately, they do not always do so...continue to full post

Full post as published by California Criminal Defense Blog on January 30, 2008 (boomark / email).