Be Careful Of Your Right To Remain Silent

The Supreme Court issued its ruling on Salinas v. Texas. In this case, prosecutors used Salinas' right to plead the fifth against him. Salinas was not arrested and not read his Miranda warning. During informal questioning by police, officers claimed Salinas was talkative until he was asked if the shotgun Salinas handed over to police for testing would match the shotgun shells found at the scene of a double homicide. When asked about the shotgun casings, Salinas clammed up.

As many of us know, the first line of your Miranda warning is, "You have the right to remain silent." By remaining silent, you choose to not comment on the situation as not to incriminate yourself. It is the smartest thing you can do when facing criminal charges. Once you've waived that right, you are subject to having your own words used against you.

What happens when you elect to remain silent? As the rights read, "You have the right to REMAIN silent." What is not implied is that you have to orally tell the police that you are going to remain silent. Now, what lawmakers are arguing is that if one does not invoke their fifth amendment right either verbally or through written communiqué, then the prosecution can use their silence as a detriment against them, contradicting the whole idea of remaining silent.

Where this becomes unfair and even biased is in the case of those who don't speak English fluently, suffer from mental or physical handicap, are too confused, scared, incompetent to orally convey their wish to remain silent. Doesn't silence speak for itself? Do we really need to declare our silence to convey it?

More importantly now than ever, if you are arrested or simply called in for informal questioning, do not speak to anyone without having your lawyer present. Contact San Jose Criminal Defense Attorney William Chestnut at 408-298-6990 immediately. After the Supreme Court's ruling, your right to remain silent can now be used as an admission of guilt against you.