Miranda Warnings - Language Barrier.

[LaredoTornado]

A quick question -

How do LEO's manage to give a Miranda Warning to someone who speaks a foreign language that the officer does not know? Does the Miranda Warning have to wait until a translator is located? Does this put evidence at risk? If the suspect is talking and you are recording... does all of that get thrown away if gathered before Miranda could be read?

[Fjold]

A quick question -

How do LEO's manage to give a Miranda Warning to someone who speaks a foreign language that the officer does not know? Does the Miranda Warning have to wait until a translator is located? Does this put evidence at risk? If the suspect is talking and you are recording... does all of that get thrown away if gathered before Miranda could be read?

If the officer doesn't understand the language that the suspect is speaking, how could he use it as evidence?

[Spyder]

If the officer is not asking questions, no need for Miranda warnings...simple recordings are fine.

[LaredoTornado]

Ah! Okay that makes sense then. Thank you!

[SVT-40]

Miranda only applies to custodial interrogations. So if you were to have a suspect in custody and you wanted to interrogate him there are translators available.

Miranda is not necessary for most LEO citizen interactions.

Same for the 911 emergency lines if a foreign speaker calls and the dispatcher cannot understand the caller there is a link the dispatcher can use to determine the language of the caller and obtain a translator.

[Notorious]

If I arrest someone and for some reason need to interrogate him right then and there, I guess this would be an issue.

However, for most real police arrests, we don't Mirandize right then and there. That's a Hollywood myth. As a matter of fact, most detectives hate it when patrolmen do that because if a suspect says no and he doesn't want to talk after a patrolman Mirandizes him or if he wants a lawyer, then the detective is screwed later when he wants to talk to the suspect.

Even if we arrest someone, we don't Mirandize until later when we actually have to talk to the suspect. By that time, we should (emphasis... SHOULD) have translators available or even an officer who speaks that language so the officer can later testify as well, if needed.

I have never Mirandized in the field after an arrest. I take them back to the station and then Mirandize when I am ready to conduct the interrogation. What's the rush?

[botsdots]

Also, my understanding (maybe incorrect) is that you don't have to mirandize them unless you're talking specifically about a case/offense. So you can ask them all kinds of questions about where they grew up, went to school, etc. (what they think is small talk), but you could be gathering good data about where to look next for evidence or whatever.

[Notorious]

It's more broad than that. It's any questions or statements likely to elicit an incriminating response. So asking locations and such might be construed to fall within Miranda.

[EOD3]

Spontaneous utterance is the term your looking for.

[TrailerparkTrash]

Miranda only applies to custodial interrogations.

Miranda is not necessary for most LEO citizen interactions.

That's why it always has cracked me up when I see a guy getting mirandized while the cuffs go on him immediately and the cops don't follow up with questions. I guess they want to do that for the cameras.

Even more ridiculous is when a camera crew with bright lights is on the suspect's face and the cop mirandizes the guy. Then with all the confussion and chaos, it's no wonder the suspect clams up.... on camera! He was just now put on "front street" with a camera crew right there. Do the younger cops realize that hommie is never gonna usually talk about their crime partners with a frick'n camera in their face, filming the "snitching" in progress???

[fullrearview]

Where I work, if Miranda doesn't get used almost right away....admin thinks the case will get tossed.....

[Notorious]

Spontaneous utterance is the term your looking for.

Spontaneous utterances are the best. Just let the turd run his mouth. They have a bad habit of liking to just talk their heads off and give you some good info. You just have to sit back and let them hang themselves.