Violation of My Fifth Amendment Rights

My question involves police conduct in the State of: Iowa
How can I get help with constitional rights violations in Iowa by police.
For a disabled person, this is what happened:
On 4/05/2010 Two police officers came to my place of residents. I answered
my door, and was asked if I was Kevin Pitts to which I replied "yes". One
of the officers then stated that there was a warrant for my arrest due to
an unpaid fine. At this time I stated that I was unaware of any unpaid
fines that I owed. I was never shown the warrant.Both officers then barged
into my home, told me to put on my shoes, and then escorted me outside of
my home and then proceeded to search and handcuffed me.I was placed into
the patrol car, which at this time one of the officers pulled something
from the glove compartment and stated that I was being arrested for
writing a bad check. I was never given the opportunity to see this paper,
nor during this time was I given my Miranda rights. Both of these things
are a violation of my fifth amendment rights. I was taken to the county
jail where I was released on a cash bond. When I asked for attorney, I was
told the charges were not severe enough to have a attorney.
I do not know how to get help with this.

A huge misconception (thanks, Law & Order) is that you must be read Miranda rights when you're arrested. This is NOT true.

Did you actually ask to see the warrant?

Miranda is not applicable, so I will address the other. How is not permitting you to view the warrant a 5th AM violation??? I don't see any?

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Quoting BOR

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Miranda is not applicable, so I will address the other. How is not permitting you to view the warrant a 5th AM violation??? I don't see any?

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According to the 1966 United States Supreme Court decision in the case of Miranda v. Arizona as to protect a criminal suspect's Fifth Amendment right to help avoid self-incrimination during police interrogation
The Miranda warning is a warning given by police in the United States to criminal suspects in police custody, or in a custodial situation, before they are interrogated. A custodial situation is one in which the suspect's freedom of movement is restrained (judged by the "free to leave" test), (This is where the Miranda applies to me, I was clearly not free to leave), even if he is not under arrest. An elicited incriminating statement by a suspect will not constitute admissible evidence unless the suspect was informed of his/her "Miranda rights" and made a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of those rights. However, a 2004 Supreme Court ruling upheld state "stop-and-identify" laws, allowing police in those jurisdictions to require biographical information such as name, date of birth, and address, without arresting suspects or providing them Miranda warnings. I was also question beyond name, DOB and address.
Also according to Miranda you have the right to be told why you are being arrested, and the nature of the charges against you (the crime for which you are being arrested). If you are arrested on a warrant, you have the right to see the warrant you have the right to see the warrant within a reasonable time after your arrest, to read it and make certain your name appears on it, and to see the charge against you. I asked to see the warrant, it was flashed at me but I was denied access to it.

I believe Maranda dose applay in this case do to judges by the "free to leave test" under the Maranda rulling of 1966. As far as seeing the warrant I did ask to see it. The officer flashed a paper at me but did not allow me to read it. Also in the case when I was removed from my hone I was told I was under arrest for not paying a fine several times. When I reached they said I was under arrest for a bad check.

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An elicited incriminating statement by a suspect will not constitute admissible evidence unless the suspect was informed of his/her "Miranda rights" and made a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of those rights.

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See that statement? That is from what you posted. Not reading you your Miranda rights is not a violation of your constitutional rights. Reading you your Miranda rights is notification of what your rights are. Failing to read you your rights will only cause testimony that that was gained without notifying you of your rights to be ruled inadmissible. That's it.

If any testimony by you is incriminating and it was given prior to your Miranda rights being stated, your attorney can seek to have that testimony ruled inadmissible.

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Also according to Miranda you have the right to be told why you are being arrested, and the nature of the charges against you (the crime for which you are being arrested). If you are arrested on a warrant, you have the right to see the warrant you have the right to see the warrant within a reasonable time after your arrest, to read it and make certain your name appears on it, and to see the charge against you.

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Really? Where do you get that from:

you have the right to remain silent. anything you say can be used against you in a court. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you.

where does it say anything about the warrant?

in fact, there are many arrests without warrants. What are the police to do in those situations? Just let the guy go because they can't show him a warrant?



yes, Miranda would most likely apply but it doesn't change anything you have presented if they didn't advise you of your rights.

Kevin, as jk points out, you are misapplying the law here.

Your Counsel can address these issues if you still feel your rights were violated.

How Many Kevin Pitts live in your state? I was called on Christmas Eve by an investigator alleging that I wrote multiple bad checks. The checks were written in a county a hundred miles away. After many intimidating, rude and somewhat threatening statements, the investigator arranged a time for me to go to his county and prove my innocence by signing my very common name several times. This happened quite a few years ago. And now after I think about it, I would have handled the situation in a much different manner starting with telling the investigator to go bother his family on Christmas Eve.

It seems rather strange that an officer would keep a warrant in the glove compartment. Like the others, I do not necessarily believe your 5th Amendment rights were violated. However, if you were falsely detained, arrested or whatever they want to call it, you do have the right to hit back twice as hard with your 1st Amendment rights and maybe others.

If you are innocent, start by filing a complaint with the department that detained you, district attorney's office, state police, state attorney's office and any other place that you can find with jurisdiction in your situation. Most likely they are required by law to at least investigate. This will likely require them to exert time and resources which may include interviewing the officers that detained you. Then if you still have energy, write some open letters in your local newspapers and if you are really upset make some creative signs and share your opinion on the department's sidewalk. I almost forgot, don't forget to write and call your local representatives, county supervisor (if you have one), police chief and the judge that signed the warrant and copy all local media outlets on all of your correspondence. If you are guilty, pay the fine.

If the police come to your house, arrest you, process you into custody and thus take your prints and photograph, you have been arrested for a criminal offense and you have the constitutional right to have an attorney appointed if you can't afford one.

Miranda rights mean nothing unless you gave a statement they are using against you in which case your attorney can challenge the statement.

On what basis did they identify you before the arrest? Just by name? That would be so faulty. Did the business accepting the checks make note of the person's driver's license number, address or anything else?

Giving a private investigator samples of your handwriting is so incredibly stupid I can't find the words for it. So you are telling us that they don't know who wrote the checks really and are on a fishing expedition involving anyone with the same name. The police can NOT rely upon those samples anyway as there was no legal chain of custody. No state attorney/DA is going to rely on the testimony of a p.i. for handwriting comparisons and there is no chain of custody. Stupid all around.

Whoever got that charge issued should be sued for malicious prosecution once you are found not guilty or the charges are dismissed.

How can ANYONE testify in court that you wrote the checks? They can't. This charge should never have issued.

P.S. Writing the newspaper would be a waste of time and you would be libeling yourself in effect. You could also change your position from being a private citizen to being the subject of the news and get attention that you do not want.

Dear posters: The ONLY time police arrest anyone without a warrant is when they witness a crime, or have probable cause to believe a crime has been committed and they know who committed it. A police officer could NEVER arrest anyone legally for a bad check in another county without a warrant.

Also, if a police officer made an arrest for a warrant from another county, the suspect would then to transported to that county to face the charges. The charge has to be tried in the county where the offense was committed. So something is not right about the original post and this entire thread. Also the subject of Fifth Amendment rights is totally irrelevant.

Them not reading you your Miranda rights is not a violation of your Fifth Amendment rights, unless the interrogated you in a custodial setting. But it sounds like they already had the information they needed to arrest you, and had no need to interrogate you.

Police do not have to show you the arrest warrant or search warrant at the time of the search or arrest. The point of a warrant is to put an impartial magistrate between you and possibly-overzealous police officers, and to allow your attorney to contest matters later, if justified.

I do think your Sixth Amendment rights were violated. You have the right to hire your own attorney for any charges against you. If you cannot afford an attorney, they must provide you with an attorney for any charge with the potential of jail time. The crime of failing to pay a fine certainly sounds like a jailable offense, especially since they did put you in jail, if only briefly.

No rights were violated at all, 5th or 6th.

Miranda applies only if the person is subject to interrogation during the arrest. The interrogation is information concerning the crime. Questions concerning name, address, SSN, etc are not interrogational and Miranda is not required to be read before asking such questions. The authorities only have to provide an attorney if they plan on interrogation and the suspect requests an attorney be present. They don't have to allow an attorney to be present for the task of presenting the warrant to a magistrate or judge. Even if the suspect was not the same person as the warrant, the police are operating under several protections the biggest one being good faith doctrine. The police do not have to allow the person to see the warrant before arresting but a copy will be made available (if not immediately, then by filing a motion with the courts).