Custodial and Noncustodial Interrogations, Essay Example

When a police investigation is imminent, the importance of Miranda Rights granted towards individuals placed under arrest to remain in police custody are legally required to be clearly explained to the individual being detained. Within this type of investigation occurrence, the individual is understood to be in a custodial interrogation whereby members of the police force are soliciting responses from the detained person(s). Prior to this interrogation, the individual must be read their Miranda Rights to understand “their right to remain silent, their right to an attorney, and the right to an appointed attorney if they are unable to afford counsel – prior to conducting a custodial interrogation” (Larson, 2000). Under this situation, the Miranda Rights are a necessity prior to engaging the individual in an interrogation and failure to read these rights to the detained person can result in any information obtained from that person inadmissible in the court of law.

However, a non-custodial interrogation is quite different in the method and the use of the Miranda Rights. The first key difference is that the individual is not being held in the custody of the police and therefore, is not subject to being required to be read their Miranda Rights. The police frequently explain to the individual that they are not under arrest and are free to go at any time but that they (the police) would like to ask the individual questions. Any responses that the individual grants to the police can be admissible in the court of law so long as the responses were given voluntarily and the individual was made aware that he or she was not under arrest and being held in custody of the police. However, if the individual refuses to respond to questions and the police decide to arrest them, the Miranda Rights must be read.

Bibliography

Larson, A. (2000, March). Expert law. Retrieved from http://www.expertlaw.com/library/criminal/miranda_rights.html