licgan wrote on Sep 29^th, 2009 at 1:15am:


This is not very clear.  A person's right to avoid self incriminating statements and their right to counsel exist whether that person is advised of Miranda or not.  The advisement is not what triggers the rights; custody and interrogation trigger the necessity of the advisement.

Also, a person need not be advised of their rights before choosing not to speak with the police.  In any consensual encouner a person may choose to say nothing at all to the police.  In an investigative detention, a person may choose to do nothing but identify themselves, and may respond to all other questions by invoking their fifth and sixth amendment rights.  In a a custodial interrogation, regardless of whether the police have given the Miranda warning, a person need not say anything at all in regards to the offense they are being charged with.