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Prosecution’s Use of the Defendant’s Constitutional Rights to Stay Silent

Although anything a defendant says can be used against him court, anything he may NOT say may also be used against him in court as substantive evidence of guilt. However, the prosecution is constitutionally limited as to the extent of invoking your silence against you in court.

Pre-Arrest Silence

Even though the prosecution may be able to use your pre-arrest silence as incriminating evidence against you, criminal lawyer may be able to prevent this based on the fact that it is irrelevant and lacks any probative value. Most judges tend to look at a defendant’s pre-arrest silence as the defendant’s constitutional right and will generally refuse to let the prosecution from introducing it as evidence.

Post-Arrest, Pre-Miranda Silence

The prosecution can also attempt to introduce your post-arrest, pre-Miranda silence as impeaching evidence. However, your criminal lawyer can exclude this evidence by arguing the discrepancy of courts as to whether such evidence can used is substantive and should be properly excluded.

Post-Arrest, Post-Miranda Silence

The Constitution, under the Due Process Clause, guarantees each individual the right to invoke silence without any recourse once he or she has been arrested and given Miranda rights. But nevertheless, the prosecution can still introduce evidence of whether you showed preference for answering certain inquiries but not others.

We Can Help

The bottom line is that the prosecution can use every little piece of evidence from the second you were arrested through your trial against you in court. As such, it is imperative that you hire a competent criminal attorney to protect your constitutional rights and have the criminal charges dismissed.

To schedule a complimentary consultation with criminal attorney Param Pabla, please call (916) 285-7900.

Client Reviews
★★★★★
“Mr. Pabla represented me with my DUI case. He has excellent communication skills and always kept me informed. Mr. Pabla made sure I understood the process and my rights. He eased my mind through a very stressful situation. I highly recommend Mr. Pabla.” Gurpreet
★★★★★
“I am so happy with the service that I received from Param S. Pabla. Jarrett did a great job solving my legal issue and I can’t recommend him enough! He was able to do everything quickly, painlessly, and was ALWAYS available to talk when I needed him. If I ever need help again, I will definitely use him!" Boris
★★★★★
“Param was excellent in my court case of failure to stop at a stop sign. The officer could not see clearly because he was too far away. The officer insisted he could and said he had video but could not produce it at the trial. The officer then asked if he could suspend the trial to go get the video but the judge said he should have had plenty of time to get the video ready beforehand. Needless to say, the judge ruled in my favor and dismissed the case which enraged the officer. Pabla Param’s defense and cross examination skills were excellent and paramount in having the case dismissed. Highly recommended.” T.C.
★★★★★
“My husband and I needed to update everything -family trust, will, medical stuff. Param was really patient -answering all my questions -even when I asked them twice. He wanted to be sure I understood everything we were doing. All docs were sent to us so we could go through them on our own time before anything was finalized. I also liked when we were looking at medical stuff that he had a conversation with me about what I wanted and pointed out some things I didn’t think of.” Debbie