0870.90 Waivers, Statements and Rights Notification Forms

Administrative Rules Adopted by Bureaus Pursuant to Rule Making Authority (ARB)
Policy number
PPB-0870.90
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870.90 WAIVERS, STATEMENTS AND RIGHTS NOTIFICATION FORMS

Refer:

  • Constitutional Rights Advice (Miranda) Form (Detectives)

POLICY (870.90)

A suspect in a crime must be advised of his/her Miranda rights, prior to questioning about the crime, if the suspect is in custody or is not free to go. Custody means actual constraint of the person or a person in a situation where a reasonable person would think that he/she is not free to go. In addition, such warnings may be required in circumstances that, although they do not rise to the level of full custody, create a setting which judges would and members should recognize to be compelling.

PROCEDURE (870.90)

Patrol members who have advised suspects of their Constitutional Rights (Miranda) and then transported them to the Detective Division (Detectives), or other investigative unit, for further questioning, must inform the assigned detective of the time, date, and place of the advisal, to include any response made by the suspect(s). The member who actually advised the defendant will write a report indicating the time, date, and place where such rights were given. If the defendant invokes his rights, the member should notify the appropriate investigative unit to determine if transport for questioning is still desired.

The member should not question the suspect if in the member’s judgment the interview is best performed by a detective. If the member believes the interview should be conducted by a detective, it is the responsibility of the member to contact Detectives.

Constitutional Rights Advice (Miranda) Form (870.90)

When feasible, the form will be used when a suspect is in police custody or when the suspect is interviewed at the police station and is not free to leave.

Prior to questioning, read the Miranda rights to the suspect. If the suspect speaks only a foreign language, the Constitutional Rights Advice (Miranda) form must be in that language. The Language Line may be used. For hearing impaired, the Oregon Telecommunications Relay Services can provide signing services, or the hearing impaired may read and sign a rights advice form. If a signer or translator is used, the member will get the name, address and telephone number of that person and advise the translator or signer to document the transaction for future legal needs. The phone numbers for the Language Line and the Oregon Telecommunications Relay Services are available in the Problem Solving Resource Guide.

Ask the person if they understand what his/her rights are and answer any questions they have.

Have the person sign the form indicating they understand their rights.

a. If the suspect signs the form but refuses to make a written statement, an oral statement may be taken. A notation will be made on the statement portion of the form that the suspect did make an oral statement. The oral statement will be incorporated into the investigating member’s report. Oral statements may be tape recorded if the member informs the suspect prior to recording or if the suspect consents. Recordings will be processed as evidence and summarized in the member’s report. Verbatim transcriptions will be made when required by the investigation and/or the prosecution.

b. If the suspect is not willing to waive rights, any further questioning will cease. Threats or false promises designed to persuade the suspect to waive his/her rights are forbidden. If the suspect initiates conversation after invoking rights, he/she should be asked if he/she is now willing to waive those rights. Unless an affirmative answer is given, those statements may not be admissible. Continued questions after a suspect requests an attorney will result in all statements being unusable as evidence. If the suspect is willing to make a statement, but refuses to sign the form, a notation will be made that he/she was advised of rights but refused to sign. This notation will be witnessed.

c. All copies of the rights forms will be sent to the Record Division (Records) as part of the permanent case record.

d. All original rights forms are to be placed into evidence and sent to the property room.

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