Does right to remain silent exist before arrest? US Supreme Court to decide

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The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a defendant had a Fifth Amendment right to refuse to respond to police questioning before he was arrested or read his Miranda rights.

The defendant in the case voluntarily went to a police station for questioning in connection with a murder investigation. After answering some questions, the defendant stopped answering. He remained silent after police asked him whether a shotgun found in his home would match shells found at the crime scene.

Ballistics reports would later connect the defendant’s gun to the murder, and after evading arrest for 15 years, he was captured and tried for murder. He objected when the state sought to introduce evidence of his silence in response to questions about his shotgun. The trial court overruled the objection and allowed the evidence. He was convicted of murder.

He appealed, arguing that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of his pre-arrest, pre-Miranda silence. Noting that neither the state’s highest court nor Supreme Court has ruled on the issue, the state appellate court held that the evidence was admissible because the defendant was not in custody, so his Miranda rights had not yet attached.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed.

“The plain language of the Fifth Amendment protects a defendant from compelled self-incrimination,” the court reasoned. “In pre-arrest, pre-Miranda circumstances, a suspect’s interaction with police officers is not compelled.”

The defendant filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court, which was granted. The case will be heard either later this term or next term.

Salinas v. Texas, No. 12-246.