Miranda Rights and DUI Stops
I’m frequently asked by clients if a police officer’s failure to read them their Miranda rights during their DUI traffic stop will affect their case. The answer is probably not. Let me explain.
Picture this. A motorist is pulled over by a police officer for a moving violation - any moving violation will do. The officer then asks the driver if he or she has been drinking that night. The driver replies in the affirmative: “Yes, 2 Coors Lights” - an incriminating statement no doubt. The officer then asks the driver to exit the vehicle. “When did you last drink?” “What did you last drink?” “What have you had to eat?” “Anything mechanical issues with the vehicle?” And so on… The driver is subsequently arrested on suspicion of DUI after failing the balancing and coordination exercises and a chemical test yielding a BA of, say, 0.08. The driver later calls Davis Hewitt for a free consultation and the conversation goes like this: “Mr. Hewitt, you are clearly knowledgeable about the criminal law. Nice office, too. Is that a dachshund? I just have one last question for you. The officer never read me my Miranda rights. Does the case need to be thrown out?” My answer is usually “no, but because life is unpredictable and the future not knowable, maybe.” Let’s analyze it.
Before a defendant is entitled to receive Miranda warnings, the defendant must be: (1) in custody; and (2) subjected to interrogation. Incriminatory statements made in the course of casual conversations that are not the product of custodial interrogation are admissible against a defendant.
A person is considered to be in custody when, based on the totality of the circumstances, a reasonable person in the same or similar circumstances would believe that he or she would not be free to leave. Interrogation means express questioning or its functional equivalent, by law enforcement officers. Functional equivalent generally means those words or actions on the part of law enforcement that law enforcement should know are reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response. In the case of a DUI investigation, is the following question going to elicit an incriminating response: “Sir, how much have you had to drink tonight?” Of course - an admission that a motorist drank before driving is compelling evidence that the motorist is driving under the influence. The real question is whether or not the driver is considered in custody for Miranda purposes.
Courts have found that an ordinary traffic stop during which a police officer asks a driver several modest questions and request him to perform simple balancing test did not involve custody for purposes of Miranda warnings (Pennsylvania v. Bruder (1988) 488 U.S. 9, 10–11.) Miranda right does not attach to detained motorist unless formally arrested or subjected to equivalent restraint; a traffic stop is analogous to Terry stop rather than to formal arrest (Berkemer v. McCarty (1984) 468 U.S. 420, 439–440.)
The remedy for a Miranda violation is typically exclusion of the statement from evidence in the defendant’s criminal trial. An un-Mirandized statement that has been ordered excluded may be admissible in different proceedings, or even the same criminal proceeding if you aren’t careful. That’s another discussion though.
Remember that each case is different. Some DUI traffic stop questioning may, depending on the circumstances, blossom into custodial interrogation requiring Miranda warnings. Sometimes these Miranda violations can result in a driver’s incriminating statement being excluded from evidence. Is it going to make a huge difference in your DUI case? Probably not. Maybe is the best I can do.
