Supreme Judicial Court: Police don’t have to give OUI suspects Miranda warning
The state’s highest court ruled on Monday that police do not have to read suspected drunken drivers their Miranda Rights before they decide whether to take a breathalyzer test, The Boston Globe reports.
The Supreme Judicial Court unanimously ruled that the Miranda warnings, which inform suspects of their right to silence and to counsel, are not required by law before a breathalyzer test, the Globe reports. The challenge was brought by a woman who was arrested for OUI in 2012 after taking a breathalyzer test, according to the Globe.
“We acknowledge that the decision whether to submit to a breathalyzer test is an important tactical decision for the defendant,” Justice Francis X. Spina wrote. “This decision, however, occurs at the evidence gathering stage, before the Sixth Amendment or before the Sixth Amendment or right to counsel attaches … There is no right to counsel at the time a defendant is deciding whether to submit to a breathalyzer test.”
You can read the full story at The Boston Globe.
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