Legal Question in Criminal Law in Ohio

Waved Rights

A person is taken into custody at a institution and is told that a strip search is needed. The investigator tells the suspect that if they didn't have the search done there that it would be done at the county jail. The person signs the consent form and is searched. Nothing was found but they were still arrested. No Miranda rights were ever read before or after the search. Did signing the consent form to the strip search waive the Miranda rights?


Asked on 8/26/04, 10:53 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Richard Cline Office of the Ohio Public Defender

Re: Waved Rights

It is impossible to answer the question fully without first reading the actual form that was signed. I can say, however, that merely consenting to a search does not waive Miranda rights. The problem is whether the form contained other waivers that the arrestee did not understand or did not pay attention to --- and whether that portion of the form waived Miranda rights.

Finally, Miranda only protects against the State using statements given by the defendant while in custody and obtained without Miranda warnings. If the defendant did not make any statements that could be used to convict the defendant, the fact that no Miranda warning was given is of no consequence to the case.

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Answered on 8/27/04, 10:33 am


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