Reply #3: nothing has changed [View All]

[TorchTheWitch]

The suspect didn't remain silent. The right to remain silent means not answering any questions... "You have the right to remain silent, anything you do say can and will be used against you." A suspect that answers some questions but not all of them hasn't invoked their right to remain silent. Remaining silent without saying you aren't going to be answering any questions doesn't stop an interrogation and legally may not stop it anyway (as far as I know, the only way to stop the interrogation is to request an attorney). In order to invoke your right to remain silent, you have to REMAIN SILENT. If you DO answer some questions, you haven't invoked your right to remain silent. Nothing has changed in the law here.

The purpose of Miranda is to inform people of what their rights are. Once they have been informed of their right to remain silent, and they DON'T remain silent by answering some of the questions, that's their problem... when told of their right to remain silent they are also told "anything you do say can and will be used against you."

Translators are used for non-English speakers, same as always.