|
This is a purely educational website. Nothing here is legal advice or creates or implies an attorney-client relationship. If you have a specific legal issue, PLEASE talk to a lawyer who practices where you live—laws vary from place to place, and how they're applied varies from courthouse to courthouse. Your local county bar association can probably refer someone who handles matters like yours.
By using this site, you agree that you are awesome. Use of this site also constitutes acceptance of its Terms of Service and Privacy Policies, which are known to medical science as a cure for insomnia.
It's best to keep all discussions in the comments. But if you really need to reach Nathan privately, go ahead and email him at n.e.burney@gmail.com. He won't mind.
THE ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO LAW and the PEEKING JUSTICE logo are pretty damn cool trademarks and should probably be registered one of these days.
© Nathaniel Burney. All rights reserved, though they really open up once you get to know them.
|
|
Since the US has no official language, what happens when an arrestee can’t properly “expressly invoke” their right due to language barriers, even if they manage to understand what they were told?
I’m guessing they have translators available?
If they can’t communicate in english then there won’t be much of an issue until there’s a translator there anyway. If you understand what they’re saying then you can understand them invoking their rights.
“I wish to invoke my right to silence and representation under the 5th Amendment” is a hard sentence to formulate, especially if you’re being arrested in a foreign country! Much easier to screw up and give testimony.
Yeah, and “I no talk. I want lawyer!” gets the exact same message across. That narrows your problem down to people who speak enough English to incriminate themselves, but who don’t know what a lawyer is. Considering that most people who do speak English as a primary language don’t exercise their rights anyway, I can’t see it being that important that often.
Of course there’s an issue! Turn on tape recorder, then mirandize them. After that, it’s up to their lawyer to get the recording invalidated.
You’re imagining a situation where the suspect can’t communicate effectively in English, but understands English, so you ask him questions in English, record his answers in his native language, and then get them translated later?
I would imagine that if the recording includes the suspect invoking his rights in his native tongue, then getting it suppressed would be pretty easy (IANAL). If he didn’t invoke his rights even in his native tongue, then I don’t see why he needs any more protection than a native English speaker who fails to invoke his rights.
Yell at him in what is to him incomprehensible English for hours, until his will to resist is broken, then bring in a translator, Mirandize him, and get an easy confession (if you’d let him have a translator earlier he could have stopped the demoralization at the beginning) which the courts will likely allow since they tend to ignore the question of coercion as long as a Miranda waiver is present.
Even if he has some knowledge of English, it’s more likely that he’ll manage to incriminate himself in his broken pleading than that he’ll manage to invoke his rights properly.
“Hat Guy” is an awfully generic name for a detective.
Is that a tie fighter in the background on the airstrip?
Yes. There was one parked as well in an earlier comic. Or maybe it was an x wing. I forget.
Thanks! I thought you’d get to her Miranda Rights eventually, and now I know.
And Knowing is Half the Battle!