Also known as: valid waivers · enforceable waiver
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A relinquishment of a known constitutional right that is knowing, voluntary, and intelligent. The waiver must reflect a free and deliberate choice made with full awareness of the right abandoned and the consequences of that decision.
After indictment on fraud charges, federal agents visited Vera Vargas at her home and questioned her for hours about server security without counsel present. Vargas answered their questions in detail. Because adversary proceedings had begun, the absence of counsel or a valid waiver rendered her statements inadmissible at trial.
Vincent Vale was taken into custody at the station and questioned about an aerospace theft. Officers never advised him of his rights to silence or counsel. Any resulting statement is inadmissible because no valid waiver followed the required warnings.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Violet Vidal received Miranda warnings and remained silent for hours while officers questioned her. She then answered a single question about the crime. Her response can support a finding of valid waiver if the record shows it was the product of a free and deliberate choice made with full awareness of the rights involved.
Valerie Viera was questioned at length without warnings and gave incriminating answers. Officers then read the warnings and obtained a second statement. The initial unwarned interrogation undermines any claim that the later waiver was knowing and voluntary.
Victor Vargas invoked his right to counsel during custodial questioning. The next day a different officer approached him in jail and resumed interrogation without counsel. No valid waiver occurred because police reinitiated contact after the invocation.
Vivian Velez signed a plea agreement containing a provision waiving certain rights in exchange for sentencing concessions. The waiver is enforceable if the record shows it was knowing and voluntary and the government did not overreach.
The waiver must be voluntary in the sense that it was the product of a free and deliberate choice rather than intimidation, coercion, or deception. It must also be made with full awareness of both the nature of the right being abandoned and the consequences of the decision to abandon it.
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No. A valid waiver will not be presumed simply from the silence of the accused after warnings are given or simply from the fact that a confession was eventually obtained.
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Once adversary judicial proceedings have begun, the Sixth Amendment prohibits law enforcement from deliberately eliciting incriminating statements from the defendant in the absence of counsel or a valid waiver.
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No. When an accused has invoked the right to have counsel present during custodial interrogation, police may not reinitiate questioning until counsel is provided or the suspect initiates further communication and validly waives the right.
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Yes, if the statements were voluntary and the defendant made a knowing and intelligent waiver of the right to counsel at the time he spoke.
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…the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and that respondent’s mental condition had rendered him incapable of making a valid waiver of his Miranda rights. Held: 1. Respondent’s confession was not coerced in violation of the Due Process Clause. The Colorado Supreme Court erred in importing a “free will” requirement…