We writing at the same time. I think my answer above covers that.
Eventually they brought out a small handheld unit, and had these brandy new plastic tubes, a venturi whistle tube thing that was retrieved from original packaging, and installed on the handheld unit. They did everything by the book, I could tell. Twice. I knew they wanted a scalp and I just couldn’t.
edit - the handheld units may not be accurate enough, it depends on the direction - as a general tool if someone registers 0.0 or negligible they don’t want to waste their time. I get that.
I’ve been sober for 12 years now, so I don’t have to worry about these things anymore.
In Japan and Taiwan, they use a handheld breathalyzer and don’t bother with field sobriety tests.
Where I lived in Taiwan, they would often have a checkpoint at the same place in the town I lived. A river formed the town boundary next to where I lived. You would drive from the small city, then cross a bridge and they would sometimes have a checkpoint on Friday or Saturday nights. I lived just down the road on a very small street which was just before the checkpoint. I always thought it was silly that they had the checkpoint after that side street because it gave drivers a place to avoid it.
One Saturday night I was coming back late and they had the checkpoint with several cop cars and police, as usual. I turned down the side street, and two cops jumped out and stopped me. It was obvious they thought I was trying to attempting to avoid being tested, and disappointed when I blew 0.00.
There is a YouTube channel by a DUI defense attorney, the DUI Guy, who uploads whole trials as well as arguments or testimony of the cops, etc.
I don’t watch them very much because they are too long, but here’s an example of a testimony of a cop, then his cross examination and eventually a mistrial was declared. There wasn’t a body cam or jail footage, so they only had the cop’s word for how impaired the driver was.
I don’t believe I was ever Mirandized and the only questioning I remember was what my gang affiliations and sexual orientation was. Still got sent to court for a DUI where they admitted my BAC into the record. When it is over 0.20 you don’t get any benefit of the doubt.
I do not think that is how it works. If you are in custody then they need to Mirandize you.
Put another way, ask the police if you are free to leave. If they say yes, then leave (although if you are suspected of a DUI then do not drive away…call someone to come get you). It may well be they will arrest you before you get to the door but then you get your Miranda rights and those protections. As long as you stand there chatting with them before being arrested you do not have those protections and the police prefer it that way.
Not true. As @Pavelb1 says, they only need to Mirandize someone before questioning them. One of the police officers here on the Dope has confirmed that as well.
Here’s one attorney’s take
Do you have rights to remain silent or an attorney as soon as you are arrested?
Is this about when the police have to say the magic words?
Or do you have no rights until the police try to question you after you have been arrested?
You always have the right to say, “I choose to remain silent”.
In fact the ultimate kind of dick move to make when pulled over is immediatly hand over your liscence, registration and insurance card, along with producing a sign that says, “I choose to remain silent and will not be answering any questions.”
Really the only thing the officer can do to conduct his investigation is ask you to step out of the car and and shine a flashlight in your vehicle…well… and arrest you.
When do you have a right to an attorney? (One the state appoints for you.)
ETA: Also, IIRC, remaining silent CAN be used against you. You have to explicitly (verbally) state that right. Just sitting there stone silent may not protect you.
That the state appoints? After being arrested. Your own attorney of course serves at your leisure.
Deep cut there! Yup…I’ve seen that before. That you are supposed to actually invoke your right.
Now a difference between remaining silent after being Mirandaized and before is that after…the police arn’t even supposed to ask anymore questions after you ‘ask to speak to a lawyer’. Whereas before…theres a billion videos of the cops badgering people who have said they wish to remain silent.
In my bucket list of questions to ask an expert in the field is, "Can you use a defendants right to remain silent against him IF he’s answering certain questions?
Example: The driver has already said he wishes to remain silent…but is still answering certain questions but saying nothing on others.
“Where are you coming from”…" The bar"…“Where you aware your friend was shot there?” …silence…“How many drinks did you have” “Two”…“Do you own a .22”…perp starts crying, looks away but says nothing.
Realistically your not gonna get an attorney out on a highway. You’ll be going to the station. Then you call your attorney. After you’ve sat in the drunk tank for no telling how long.
True. And I know police can ask questions and expect some answers in a basic traffic stop (e.g. what’s your name, show your license and registration). I was told you should provide all of that stuff with no fuss (you have to) but when they start asking questions beyond that just say something like, “I’d rather not discuss my day.”
The question is, do things change for you, legally, between standing on the side of the road and handcuffed in the back of the police car?
IMHO no…other then the obvious statistics that you’re likely in more trouble if you’re handcuffed in the back.
There are plenty of situations where an officer might handcuff you and place you in the cruiser to detain you just until they can get a handle on the situation. You can be handcuffed and placed in a cruiser without actually being under arrest.
Edit: Unless the question is “Am I being detained?”…most certainly if you’re handcuffed. “Probably” if you’re standing on the side of the road having been stopped by an officer.
Depends on what you mean by things.
Sticking just with DWIs Miranda doesn’t come into play too much. There was a script to be followed during processing. Miranda was part of the script but it doesn’t matter much. Any questions asked before the breathalyzer are purely biographical and don’t fall under your right to remain silent. Part of the script tells you that you don’t have a right to have a lawyer present during the breathalyzer (which you don’t.) After samples are taken (or refused) there is a questionnaire about where you drank and how much. That’s for ABC purposes. The state compiles data on bars to see how many DWIs are coming from them. Most people either lie or don’t answer the questions and it doesn’t matter to the arresting officer.
In general Miranda is only required when there is interrogation plus confinement. Your rights are your rights. They don’t change. What changes is when the police have to inform you of your rights.
As a detective I used Miranda often when taking formal statements. As a patrol officer I had to use it half a dozen times over 25 years. Thats not including DWIs where it’s part of the script even when not needed. Even then it wasn’t that much because I spent a large portion of my career not certified to run the machine.
You do have a right to a lawyer. One will be provided for you if you can’t afford one. You don’t have the right to be provided a lawyer at 3AM. Ask for a lawyer and you will have one during questioning. Questioning isn’t happening now. A lawyer can be appointed for you. A judge does the appointing after he sees if you can afford one. That will be weeks or more from the time of arrest.
Nope. 2 factors have to be present:
*You are under arrest
*You are being questioned about specific elements of what you were arrested for. Just asking your name and such does not trigger Miranda.
The stuff you see on law & Order where they are Mirandizing before they even have the cuffs safety locked is pure Hollwood bullshit. Does not work that way.
About 95% of my arrests do not include Miranda. I don’t need to interview the person as I know all the facts already. Several have walked out after being bailed snickering “ha ha, I’m going to skate because you didn’t read me my rights!” Would have loved to seen their face when their attorney wised them up that I didn’t need to.
Lol. I just watched a Columbo where he told a woman she was under arrest…basically just to get her to stop bleating about her innocence.
He THEN went into the gotcha portion of the show the whole time I’m facepalming because he hasn’t read her rights. Fortunately Columbo is smarter then me cause his gotcha didn’t include questions and all he got out of the woman was “Well done Lieutenant “
Hardly enough to use in ciurt.
I loved Columbo but he did a lot that wouldn’t hold up in court.