Question: Is it a legal DUI arrest when they failed to read my Miranda rights?

Question: Is it a legal DUI arrest when the Officer failed to read Miranda rights? I was arrested for a DUI after a minor collision with another car.  No one was hurt.  Officers ended up showing up the scene where we were and took our statements.  After talking to the Officer for a few minutes and telling him what happened, he then started asking me questions like….”Have you been drinking,” “What did you drink?” etc.  After going through a few minutes of questions like that he then made me do balance tests, checked my eyes, blow into a machine, etc.  After all that was done he arrested me.  I was never read my Miranda rights.  Doesn’t that mean that the entire interaction with the officer that lead to my arrest was illegal?  Also, this is my second DUI so I am really nervous about this and don’t want to go back to jail.  

Answer: Hi.  Sorry to hear about your recent situation.  To give you a brief summarized answer on your question, the DUI arrest can still be legal, but any statements made after your arrest may be suppressed if your Miranda rights were not read.  Sometimes the question can be argued, “at what point did the arrest actually take place?”  Depending on the situation sometimes the arrest can take place at a time earlier that what the Officer claims it did, and therefore increase the chances that certain statements can be suppressed (ie. kept out of evidence).   That being said, Officers (when done properly) are allowed to do a DUI investigation prior to making an arrest. 

Call me at 818-336-1384 to discuss your case and situation in more detail.  I look forward to speaking with you.  

Phil Hache,

DUI & Criminal Defense Attorney
www.philhachelaw.com
Handling DUI and Criminal matters throughout Courts in Southern California including Van Nuys, CA, San Fernando, CA, Burbank, CA Glendale, CA Pasadena, CA Metropolitan Court, Bellflower, CA, Alhambra, CA, Malibu, CA, Compton, CA, Santa Clarita, CA, Airport Court, Chatsworth, CA Inglewood, CA, Los Angeles, CA and other Courts.