Massachusetts DUI Attorney Blog

Under the case of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), police officers are required to read you your Miranda rights prior to custodial interrogation. Generally, a police officer making an arrest in Massachusetts for DUI will read a suspect their Miranda rights upon making the arrest.

The suspect is typically brought back to the station where he is asked further booking questions. Case law has carved out what is known as an exception to Miranda for basis booking questions, such as name, date of birth, address, and other biographical information necessary to book a suspect. This exception was recognized by the United States Supreme Court in Pennsylvania v. Muniz, 496 U.S. 582 (1990) and followed by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court under our State Constitution.

The abuse that occurs with the booking exception is that some officers use the cordiality created by booking questions to then question a suspect as to how much they had to drink, what they last drank and how much was consumed.

Questions such as these are clearly not part of the booking process and are usually asked close in time to basis booking questions. Many arrested for OUI answer these questions. A motion to suppress could be made challenging the admissibility of these statements as obtained in violation of a suspect's Miranda rights.

Continue reading "Booking Questions in Massachusetts OUI arrests " »

Most people are familiar with the now famous Miranda warnings from television and movies. But how are these rights applicable if you are stopped for DUI in Massachusetts.

The Miranda warning comes from the case of Miranda v. Arizona, 366 U.S. 384 (1966). Under the United States Constitution and the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights, Miranda warnings are not required when a police officer stops your car to make an initial inquiry regarding a traffic infraction. Typically, in a DUI investigation, it starts as a traffic violation and the officer smells an odor of alcohol, observes bloodshot eyes and notes slurred speech and comes to the conclusion that the operator might be impaired.

An officer needs only reasonable suspicion to order a motorist from their car to request that they take field sobriety tests. In most cases, Miranda warnings will not be required prior to the officer ask preliminary questions and asking the suspect to take field sobriety tests. A motorist has no obligation to respond to an officer's questions or to take field sobriety tests; however, generally Miranda warnings are not required at this stage.

Miranda warnings may be required if there is a serious accident or if the officer observes numerous traffic violations or conducts the questioning in an aggressive and coercive fashion. Under precedent established by the United States Supreme Court in Berkemer v. McCarty, 468 U.S. 420 (1984), a roadside stop is generally considered not a custodial interrogation requiring Miranda warnings, because roadside stops are open to the public and presumptively brief encounters, that occur, according to the court in a noncoercive environment.

If prior to your arrest, the police acted aggressively, questioning you in a confrontational manner and in a way that made it appear to you as through you were under arrest, a judge may find that you were in custody and that Miranda warnings were required. If that occurred, then any statements made by you may be subject to suppression as the product of custodial interrogation in violation of your Miranda rights. Even if a motion to suppress statements in violation of Miranda is denied, often the defense of your case will be improved as the suppression hearing will provide an opportunity to hear the officers testimony and commit the officer to his testimony prior to trial.

Continue reading "Miranda rights in Massachusetts DUI arrests " »