What Are Your Rights if You’re Under Arrest?

Attorney Merrida Coxwell | 888-592-5505 | Free Consult

“They deprive you of your freedom of movement, basically seize you, put you under arrest, but you know you could be seized and not able to leave without them saying you’re officially under arrest.”

What are your rights if you’re under arrest? At what point do you contact an attorney? Do undocumented immigrants have rights when placed under arrest?

Merrida Coxwell is a personal injury attorney and managing partner at Coxwell & Associates, PLLC, based in Jackson, Mississippi. In this video, he explains that the first thing someone should do when placed under arrest is to contact a lawyer.

To learn more, contact the attorney directly by calling 888-592-5505 or by submitting a contact form on this page. There is no charge for the consultation, and you never owe any out-of-pocket attorney fees.

Key Takeaways From Merrida Coxwell:

Being arrested is a stressful situation, and it’s important to know what your rights are, as well as when those rights apply.

First, seek reputable legal counsel.

Many constitutional rights exist to protect a person from unlawful search and seizure, and from abusive treatment during an arrest. It’s important to take the time to learn more about your rights, when and how they are applicable, as well as how to handle a situation where you are dealing closely with law enforcement or find yourself arrested or held.

There are certain rights every person should be aware of in the case of an arrest.

If you are arrested or constrained from moving, law enforcement is required to read you your Miranda Rights. However, in cases where you are in voluntary communication with them, they do not need to read your rights. This means if they request to speak with you and you agree or go willingly to the station, they are under no obligation to read this set of rights to you.

If there is any question of your need for a lawyer, request to speak to an attorney.

Regardless of the situation, if you question whether you need a lawyer, the best thing you can do is contact one right away. If the police come by your house to talk or stop you on the street for a traffic violation and hold you longer than necessary or ask you questions that seem unrelated to the situation, these could be indications that it’s a good idea to have a lawyer on your side. An attorney will be able to tell you whether you need a lawyer to protect your rights based on what law enforcement wants from you, or if the situation doesn’t call for legal representation at all.

You should not be concerned about how requesting a lawyer makes you look.

Many people refrain from contacting a lawyer because they fear it will make them look guilty. However, Coxwell maintains that it is far more important to have a lawyer on your side to walk you through the process than to worry about how requesting to speak to your lawyer looks from the outside. In fact, Coxwell says that most cases end when law enforcement drops the charges or renegotiates the charges with the help of a lawyer.

Undocumented citizens have the same constitutional rights.

Due to the spotlight on immigration in politics and media, calls for legal help from undocumented citizens have decreased, and generally occur when family members who are United States citizens call for help after an undocumented loved one has been arrested. Coxwell reminds people that undocumented citizens have just as much of a right to representation as documented citizens, and it is wise to have a lawyer on your side before the arrest occurs if possible.

A dismissed charge does not mean the charge is expunged.

Someone who has been charged and then had the charge dismissed must take action in order to have the conviction expunged; this does not happen automatically. While certain violent crimes cannot be expunged, the majority of crimes are expungeable at five years after time served plus after five years of additional probation. In the future, Coxwell hopes to see this timeline amended to better serve people who are struggling to find sufficient work after being charged.

To learn more, contact Merrida Coxwell directly by calling 888-592-5505 or by submitting a contact form on this page. There is no charge for the consultation, and you never owe any out-of-pocket attorney fees.

Disclaimer: This video is for informational purposes only. In some states, this video may be deemed Attorney Advertising. The choice of lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely on advertisements.