What to Avoid If You Are Facing Criminal Charges

Do People Have Misconceptions about When They Should Be Advised of Their Miranda Rights?

Interviewer: How and when do Miranda Rights come into play when confronted by the police, whether they’re on the side of the road, at their home, other places? When do Miranda Rights come into effect?

Michael: Most people are under the misconception that Miranda Rights must be read when you are arrested. That’s not true. It doesn’t invalidate an arrest.

Miranda Rights Must Be Read When You Are In Police Custody and Are Being Asked Questions to Elicit Incriminating Answers

Miranda Rights have to be read if you’re in custody and if the police intend to question you about the incident to elicit incriminating statements from you. So if the police catch you red-handed so to speak and don’t intend to question you, they can just arrest you and proceed with the case. They don’t even have to read Miranda Rights.

They don’t even have to tell you why you’re arrested. They can just arrest you.

A typical example would be a DWI arrest. They pull someone over for speeding and the person is visibly inebriated. He’s really intoxicated. It’s clear the person’s intoxicated.

The police officers perform some tests on the side of the road, they arrest the person and they don’t intend to question that person about whether they’ve been drinking or how much they had to drink. But they just want to proceed based upon their observations, based upon the tests they conducted on the side of the road.

They don’t have to read the Miranda Rights. If the officers take the driver back to the police station and question him or her, for example,  where did you come from, where are you going and how much did you have to drink – then they have to read the Miranda Rights to that individual.

Interviewer: Yes, that’s obviously a big misperception. What would the difference be between once you’ve been arrested and you have to choose either being appointed a public defender or retaining a private lawyer?

In Westchester County, If You Cannot Afford an Attorney to Defend Felony Charges, You Will Be Represented by Legal Aid

Michael: In Westchester County, if you’re arrested for a felony and you cannot afford to hire an attorney, you’re represented by the Legal Aid Society. It’s an organization with staff attorneys who have very big caseloads. They are hired and paid a salary to represent an individual charged with a felony who cannot afford to retain his own attorney.

Misdemeanor Charges for the Indigent Are Handled by a Panel of Lawyers

If you’re arrested for a misdemeanor in West Chester County, the Legal Aid Society is not contracted to handle those cases. Those are sent to lawyers who are on a panel who will represent indigent persons charged with misdemeanor. They’re private lawyers but they handle court-assigned work.

Private Attorneys Exclusively Represent Their Clients and Practice Law, Free of Conflicts of Interest

The third category is comprised of lawyers who just handle retained work. Those are lawyers who are successful enough so that they don’t have to rely on court assignments but they are paid by clients and they exclusively represent those clients. There’s no potential conflict of interest as to who they’re paid by.

The problem with court-assigned lawyers is they look for those assignments to exist and they look to the judges and court personnel to get those assignments. Therefore, there is subtle pressure not to rock the boat, not to be too litigious or too adversarial because they might alienate a judge and the judge won’t give them any more assignments.

Whereas if you are a retained attorney and you represent a client, you are free to do everything you possibly can do to represent those clients.