Are Police Required to Read Miranda Rights?

Do police officers have to read Miranda Rights to you if you are arrested?  I used to hear this question all the time from people who thought they were going to use this as a technicality to get out of whatever criminal charges they were facing.  The police are not required to give you Miranda Warnings as a condition of arrest.

Police only have to give Miranda if they intend to ask you questions about the crime.  For example, if a police officer responds to a domestic violence call and sees a man striking a woman repeatedly, and he knows the woman is the mans wife, he may make an arrest by only interviewing the woman.  While this is not the best approach to police work, it often times happens that the suspect, regardless of what he may or may not say will have little impact on the outcome of the case.  As long as the officer does not ask the suspect any questions, he technically does not have to read Miranda.

In addition to not asking any questions, the officer can not make any statements trying to incite the suspect into making statements about the crime either.  For example, in the above scenario, if the officer said "that was real tough, beating up a woman for no reason" it is likely the suspect would respond by offering some defense for his actions.  Any statements made in response to the officers comment, would likely be suppressed by the court as they were not voluntary and free statements.

Miranda can become complex, but it really requires two things, custody and interrogation.  If you have one and not the other Miranda Warnings are not required.