There is confusion as to whether or not a person who has been pulled over by the police has the right to remain silent and if so, exactly when that right begins. The police are not required to read your Miranda rights until you are arrested and taken into custody, and then only if they intend to question you further. You have the right to remain silent from the moment you are pulled over and confronted by the police. The answers you give to any questions asked before you are arrested and read your Miranda rights are considered part of the police investigation and may be used against you in court.
The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right against self-incrimination. In addition to this right, you are not required to help the police arrest you. You are not required to perform preliminary alcohol screening or field sobriety tests prior to being arrested. You do not, however, have a right to an attorney by the side of the road during the investigation or when deciding to submit to a chemical test. You do have the right to refuse to answer any questions without an attorney present. It needs to be made very clear that the benefit of non-cooperation essentially ends with arrest, and that refusing a chemical test has some draconian penalties.
Remember that when you are arrested the police are your adversary and will not encourage you to exercise your right to remain silent. On the contrary, the police may tell you that an innocent person has nothing to hide so you would naturally want to cooperate and answer their questions.
When you are pulled over by the police and suspected of DUI, the officer will generally ask you questions in an attempt to get you to incriminate yourself. Examples of questions that are designed this way are:
– How many drinks have you had tonight?
– Which bar are you coming from?
– You know why I pulled you over don’t you?
– Which drugs have you taken tonight?
How to Answer Police Questions
A person can exercise their Miranda rights from the very first moment they are pulled over by the police. The first thing an officer may ask is “how many drinks did you have” and your answer to that question should be, ” I am exercising my Fifth Amendment right to remain silent until I have a lawyer present”. If the officer persists and threatens that you are only making it harder on yourself, simply reply, “I will not answer any questions until I have a lawyer present”.
Miranda rights are designed to protect us from self-incrimination. Your Miranda rights kick in the moment you are pulled over but the police are not required read them to you until after you are arrested. Any pre-arrest questions are a part of the police investigation and you are under no obligation to help them arrest you.
