Who Has the Right to Remain Silent?

If you are arrested for a criminal offense in Denver or Brighton, or elsewhere in Colorado, do you automatically have the right to remain silent? Or are there certain questions that the police or other law enforcement officials can require you to answer after you are arrested? In short, other than Colorado law requiring a person to provide identification to law enforcement when asked during a stop or detainment, you have the right to remain silent. To be clear, you do not have to answer any questions that a law enforcement officer asks you (other than identifying information in certain cases).

While many people ultimately waive this right upon arrest or when they are in a custodial interrogation, it is always a very good idea to exercise your right to remain silent and to ask for a lawyer. If you answer any questions at all, or provide any information to police, that information can be used against you. Our Denver criminal defense lawyers can explain in more detail.

Fifth Amendment Privilege Against Self-Incrimination 

If you are stopped in a traffic stop because of an alleged traffic violation, or if you are detained by law enforcement with a reasonable belief that you have committed a criminal offense, you can be required to identify yourself — to provide identification or identifying information. Otherwise, you have the right to remain silent. You do not have to answer any other questions you are asked. Further, in any other situation, you do not even have to answer questions about your identity. And to be very clear: upon arrest, or in a custodial interrogation with the police, you have the right to remain silent.

The Fifth Amendment, among other rights, guarantees that “no person…shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” This constitutional amendment guarantees your right to remain silent in relation to this privilege against self-incrimination.

Right to Be Informed of Your Right to Remain Silent and the Miranda Warning 

If you are arrested or placed in a custodial interrogation, you also have the right to be informed of your right to remain silent. This is part of the Miranda warning, which arises out of the 1960s US Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona. If you are arrested or placed in custody and are not informed of your right to remain silent, any information the police obtain from you may be in violation of your constitutional rights (and thus may be thrown out, and not used against you).

You can waive your right to remain silent, and it is in a law enforcement officer’s interests to get you to waive your right to silent. It is extremely important to exercise your right to remain silent, and to exercise your additional right to ask for legal counsel.

Juveniles Also Have the Right to Remain Silent 

Juveniles or minors also have the right to remain silent, just like adults in Colorado. In addition, minors must be informed of their Miranda rights upon arrest or when placed in a custodial situation or interrogation. Failure of law enforcement to advise a minor of these rights represents a constitutional violation.

Contact a Denver DUI Defense Lawyer 

You almost always have the right to remain silent when engaging with the police, and you should exercise it. If you need help with your defense after an arrest, or after becoming a suspect in a criminal case, one of the experienced Denver criminal defense attorneys at DeChant Law can help you today.

Sources:

constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-5/

supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/384/436/

justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-121-constitutional-protections-afforded-juveniles