Legal Question in Constitutional Law in Texas

Re: Miranda

Miranda is still required. There may be conflicting testimony. I hope this happened in a larger city and not in the country.

Re: Miranda

The lack of a Miranda warning is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. When the police don't Mirandize a defendant who is in custody (note that "in custody" has a specific meaning in this context which is different from what it means in everyday conversation), the only consequence is that the prosecutor cannot use against him at trial either (1) his answers to any questions he was asked while in custody, or (2) any other evidence obtained as a result of those answers unless that evidence would inevitably have been found anyway.

If the police didn't ask your son any questions, the lack of a Miranda warning is not even going to be an issue. Even if they did question him improperly, the evidence that gets thrown out may be only a portion of the evidence they have in his case. If the remaining evidence is strong enough your son can still be tried and convicted.

If police saw him throw something away and then retrieved it and discovered it was marijuana, they have enough evidence to convict him of possession (and perhaps of other related offenses). They would not need his answers to any questions in order to win this case, so even if they did question him and even if his answers are thrown out he's still likely to be convicted of at least that count.

He needs a lawyer right away.