What If I Remain Silent During Custodial Interrogation?

Imagine, if you will, this hypothetical. A person is arrested for possesion of child pornography. The police place the suspect under arrest and take him to the Frisco Police Department headquarters. The detective reads a person his Miranda warnings and asks the suspect if he or she understands his or her rights. The suspect remains silent--does not acknowledge that he or she understands or does not under stand the rights. The police then begin the interrogation. The police interrogate the suspect for three hours and the suspect has not said a word, except for a few random statements that do not bear on the case. The police, despite the suspect remaining silent, continue to interrogate.

Reaching for straws, the police then prey on the suspect's spiritual beliefs. They try to "appeal to his conscience and religious beliefs." Remember, this is three hours after the interrogation began. The police then ask this suspect if (1) he believed in God; (2) he prayed to God; and (3) did he ask for forgiveness from God for the crime he committed--that is, the possession of child pornography.

After three hours, the suspects answers "Yes" to each of these questions. Is this a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of his Miranda rights that we discussed yesterday. Well, lucky for us the Supreme Court of the United States has addressed this situation. We will analyze this tomorrow.

If you have been charged with a sex crime, contact a Plano criminal defense lawyer.