The English Warning
Trial Magazine, Vol. 43, December 2007
6 Pages Posted: 23 Oct 2007 Last revised: 29 Jun 2013
Abstract
This article proposes that the warning given to English criminal suspects prior to interrogation, in addition to the Miranda-type warnings - that your silence may be used against you if it is inconsistent with a defense raised at trial - is desirable to derail spurious defenses raised by defendants at trial and is supported by ordinary evidence law. The constitutional unfairness bar to using post-warning silence imposed by Doyle v. Ohio is obviated when the suspect is warned of possible use. Subsequent Supreme Court cases, such as South Dakota v. Neville suggest that such a system would meet with Supreme Court approval.
Keywords: Miranda warnings, use of silence, Fifth amendment, right to silence, Doyle, Neville, Beckles v. United Kingdom
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