What are my rights if arrested?

First, you have the right to be told why you are being arrested and the nature of the charges against you (the crime for which you are being arrested). If you are arrested on a warrant, you have the right to see the warrant within a reasonable time after your arrest, to read it and make certain your name appears on it, and to see the charge against you.

Second, you have the right to be told your constitutional rights (commonly called Miranda rights) before you are questioned — not before you are arrested. These constitutional “Miranda” rights are:

The right to remain silent and not answer any questions at all;
The right to know that if you waive (give up) your right to remain silent and do answer questions, the police can use your answers against you in a court to get you convicted;
Even if you begin to answer questions, you have the right to stop answering questions at any time and to speak with an attorney;
You have the right to speak privately with an attorney before you answer any questions or sign anything;
If you cannot afford an attorney and if the crime for which you have been arrested has jail time as a possible penalty, you have a right to have an attorney appointed for you (perhaps a public defender) to represent you at no cost to you before being questioned, and to have that attorney present with you during any questioning to which you may later agree to submit.
Unlike what you may see on television or in the movies, a criminal case is not thrown out of court simply because the police did not read the suspect his or her “Miranda” rights. In fact, the suspected murderer, Mr. Miranda, of the now famous case, did not have his case thrown out because his rights were not read to him; rather, he was retried, convicted, and sent to jail.

Third, you also have the following rights:

The right to contact, by telephone or otherwise, a responsible person, to tell them you have been arrested and what the charges are. You are not limited to one telephone call if more are needed to contact such a person.
The right to refuse any physical or chemical test (such as a polygraph “lie detector,” breathalyzer, intoxilizer, field sobriety tests or physical performance tests such as walking a straight line or making other movements, the look-at-the-pen test, or mental ability tests like reciting the alphabet or doing math), until you can talk to your lawyer.
The right to have your attorney present at any line-up or other identification procedure in which you are viewed by possible eyewitnesses to a crime.
The right to reasonable bail or bond to secure your release from jail unless you are charged with a capital crime. Usually a judge sets the bail or conditions of your release. If you are charged with a misdemeanor, and if no judge is available, the police may, at police headquarters, accept bail in accordance with rules established by the judge.
The right to be brought before a court as soon as is reasonably practicable after your arrest, so that you can request a preliminary hearing to test the basis of your arrest and/or trial to determine your guilt or innocence.
If I am arrested, what will the police do?
If you are arrested, the police will search you for weapons, handcuff you, transport you to jail, and photograph and fingerprint you for identification.

If they don’t have a search warrant (a court order allowing them to search), they may ask you to allow them to search your car, your home and/or your other possessions. You can refuse to consent to these searches.

You have a right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures; most of the searches for which an officer might ask your consent would require the officer to first obtain a warrant from a judge — unless you consent and give up this right.

You have the right to have a judge decide whether the search is proper before that search is conducted. There is no penalty for exercising your right to have the judge decide whether to allow the search. Your refusal to consent to a search cannot be used against you.

If you are uncertain about how to respond to any request made by an officer, assert your right to counsel and discuss it with your attorney first before taking further action on the officer’s request.