18 year old was charged with criminal tresspass but was questioned on his involvement without being notified of his rights. is this legal??

The police are required to advise a suspect of his or her Miranda Rights before questioning when the suspect is in custody or a custodial setting. A custodial setting is one in which a person's freedom of movement is restricted and a reasonable person would not feel free to leave. If this 18 year old was not in custody or a custodial setting at the time of questioning, his responses as to his involvement in the offense can be used against him. Conversely, if he was in a custodial setting at the time of questioning, and he was not advised of his Miranda rights or did not knowingly and voluntarily waive his rights, his responses cannot be used against him. However, a violation of Miranda rights does not require the dismissal of charges. Violations only results in the suppression of the suspect's statements, meaning his responses cannot be used against him at trial to prove the crime. Charges may still be brought if there is evidence independent of the improperly obtained statements. In other words, if the police have evidence independent of the 18 year old's statements with which they can prove the criminal trespass, even if his Miranda rights were violated, they can that use that evidence to charge and convict. An example of independent evidence might be where others were involved in the offense and when questioned, they told the police the 18 year old was a participant. It would be lawful for police and prosecutors to use the others' statements. Similarly, if the police lawfully obtained physical evidence that linked the 18 year old to the crime, that evidence would be admissible, even though there had been a Miranda violation. Jeralyn Merritt, Ask a Lawyer Panelist since 1998.