You have been arrested for an OUI. But the cop didn't read a Miranda warning to you.

This is a common complaint from prospective clients.

If the State wants to use your statements, oral or otherwise, against you later at court, the police must read you a Miranda warning under certain circumstances. If the police are interrogating you, that means that they are asking you questions that are designed to make you tell on yourself. These are not the kind of questions that an officer would ask you during the booking process at the jail: name, address, etc.

If the police are interrogating you while you are in police custody, the police must first read you a Miranda warning to ensure that the prosecutor will be able to use later at trial your responses to that police interrogation.

The most important thing to keep in mind in OUI investigations is that a normal investigatory stop of your car; police questioning of you during that stop; and police requiring you to do field sobriety tests does not put you into police custody for the purposes of the Miranda rule. This custody rule comes from the U.S. Supreme Court. And Maine’s highest state court has incorporated that custody rule into Maine law.

Therefore, it’s safe to say that in most roadside OUI investigations the police in Maine may interrogate you without first reading you a Miranda warning. If they want to continue questioning you after placing handcuffs on you, they should read you Miranda before doing so.

A more simple rule of thumb is: don’t answer police questions. Never answer police questions. In response to each police question, say: “I want an attorney” or “I’m not going to talk to you.” Sometimes police officers need to hear these statements more than one time. Remember, that you are not going to talk yourself out of an OUI arrest.