IV. Violation of your Rights

This could happen in many ways, such as your Miranda Warning being violated, or that police committed an illegal search and seizure of you or your property. These are considered “technical” defenses,  because they do not mean you are not guilty of a crime, but they are simply defenses against certain evidence that was obtained, that we would argue should not be admissible in Court against you.

Generally, once police have placed you under arrest, and began questioning you, they are required to read to you your rights. Most important of these, is your right to remain silent. If they fail to read those rights to you, while you are being detained and questioned, then the court will deem that to be a Violation of your Rights, and your statements would be thrown out of Court. Keep in mind, however, that there is no absolute requirement for police to read you your Miranda Warning. Police can simply arrest you and take you to the station. So long as you are not being questioned and in police custody (typically handcuffs), then Miranda will not save you here.

Another issue could be a violation of your Fourth Amendment rights. This is commonly attacked in California under PC 1538.5, which is a motion filed and argued in Court. A common example of this is during a DUI stop. Police have to have Probable Cause to pull you over, or else everything else that comes after that would not be admissible against you in Court. If you leave a bar and police see you, decided to follow you, then stop you because you left a bar – then that would be an illegal stop. Many times in these DUI arrests, police find a reason to stop you, even if it isn’t actually what took place. Video evidence of the alleged traffic violation is therefore crucial in fighting cases like these. If it is determined that the police did not have Probable Cause to stop your vehicle, then anything after that – meaning your DUI arrest, would be thrown out, and your case dismissed.

Coerced confessions are another violation that I typically see in more serious Sex Cases. Police decide to corner the Defendant in an interrogation room, making all sorts of threats that they will never see the light of day again, to come clean because the police know they did it, that they won’t ever see their kids again. Feeling hopeless and drowning, many people start telling police exactly what they want to say, just to stop the onslaught of questions. This is what is called a coerced confession, because you didn’t really mean to tell police you did the crime, but you felt you had to tell them exactly what they wanted to hear. Any violation here, gets that enter confession thrown out of Court. For more information on the defense of violation of your rights, call Ontario Criminal Defense attorney Adam Jackson today for a free consultation and free case evaluation. Call today at 909-939-7126. Located in Ontario, CA.