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Should American courts heed the 'English warnings'?

Publication: Trial
Publication Date: 01-DEC-07
Format: Online
Delivery: Immediate Online Access

Article Excerpt
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. However, it may harm your defense if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. You have a right to an attorney, and there is a duty solicitor available for you to consult at the police station."

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These are, roughly, the "English warnings." They must be given to every person arrested in England and Wales, although the warnings about counsel don't have to be given until the suspect arrives at the police station. Notice that they differ in two significant respects from the American Miranda warnings.

First, the "just pretend" right to counsel in America--where even if the suspect asks for a lawyer he or she doesn't necessarily get one, although interrogation must cease--is a real right in England. All police stations must have lawyers present or on call, and the suspect may not be questioned without consulting an attorney unless he or she signs a written waiver. Also, every police station must prominently display posters informing people that counsel is available and that the right to counsel includes the right to have a lawyer present during the interrogation. (1)

The second difference is the warning that "it may harm your defense if you don't mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court." In other words, if you don't mention an alibi, cite self-defense, or say something else that you would naturally be expected to tell the police and then raise it as a defense in court, your earlier silence during the interrogation can be used against you.

This seems flatly inconsistent with the American rule set down in Doyle v. Ohio, which prohibits any use of a suspect's post-Miranda silence. (2) In Doyle, the defendants were charged with selling marijuana to a narcotics informant. At trial, the defendants claimed that they had been framed by the informant, who brought marijuana to...

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