Opinion ID: 2496
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Fifth Amendment's Protections

Text: A suspect cannot be required to incriminate himself. U.S. CONST. amend. V. Encapsulated in this protection are certain well-known rights: (1) the right to remain silent; and (2) the right to an attorney, either appointed or retained. See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). More than forty years ago, the Miranda Court noted that the prosecution may not use statements made by a suspect under custodial interrogation unless: (1) the suspect has been apprised of his Fifth Amendment rights; and (2) the suspect knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived those rights. Id. at 444-45, 86 S.Ct. 1602. The Supreme Court in the years following Miranda fleshed out the judicial mechanisms for ensuring the viability of these constitutional protections. Included among them is the principle that courts must presume that a defendant did not waive his rights, North Carolina v. Butler, 441 U.S. 369, 373, 99 S.Ct. 1755, 60 L.Ed.2d 286 (1979), until the government proves otherwise by a preponderance of the evidence, Colorado v. Connelly, 479 U.S. 157, 169, 107 S.Ct. 515, 93 L.Ed.2d 473 (1986). Put differently, unless the suspect validly waived his rights, we presume he retains them. Cases in this area of the law are fact intensive because of the number of combinations of: (1) the circumstances preceding a suspect's interrogation; (2) the method and manner by which a suspect is informed of his or her Miranda rights; and (3) the timing of the suspect's invocation  at the time he receives the warnings or later during the interrogation following an initial waiver. [6] To honor a suspect's Fifth Amendment rights, custodial officers must abide by several prophylactic rules designed to protect the Fifth Amendment rights that come into play once the suspect is in custody. Under Miranda's prophylactic protection of the right against compelled self-incrimination, any suspect subject to custodial interrogation has the right to have a lawyer present if he so requests, and to be advised of that right. Montejo v. Louisiana, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 2079, 2089, 173 L.Ed.2d 955 (2009). There are additional layers of prophylactic protection. Once a suspect invokes his Fifth Amendment rights he is entitled to a second layer of prophylaxis that has its roots in Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 101 S.Ct. 1880 (1981). Under Edwards ' prophylactic protection of the Miranda right, once such a defendant has invoked his right to have counsel present, interrogation must stop. Montejo, 129 S.Ct. at 2098-90 (internal quotation marks omitted). Likewise, if the suspect initially decides after receiving the warnings that he wishes to remain silent, the custodial officers must scrupulously honor[] his right to cut off questioning. Michigan v. Mosley, 423 U.S. 96, 104, 96 S.Ct. 321, 46 L.Ed.2d 313 (1975). An exception to the rule occurs when it is not clear from a suspect's statements or conduct whether he is asserting his rights. In such cases, custodial officers may ask clarifying questions to determine if a suspect is exercising his rights. See Ramirez, 79 F.3d at 304. But because the default presumption is that a suspect retains his rights and the burden is on the government to prove otherwise, custodial officers who press on with questioning assuming that a suspect's statements or conduct are not indications of the suspect's desire to retain his Fifth Amendment rights do so at the risk of suppression of the suspect's subsequent statements.