What are my rights if I am arrested or detained?

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Accepted Answer

A note on the source of your rights: The warnings you must receive before custodial interrogation — the right to remain silent and the right to counsel — come from *Miranda v. Arizona* and its progeny, which is judicially developed Fifth Amendment doctrine, not a federal statute or an Arizona statute. The Arizona statutes below apply alongside that doctrine.

Your rights under Arizona law if arrested or detained:

- Limits on force and restraint. No unnecessary or unreasonable force may be used in making an arrest, and you may not be subjected to greater restraint than necessary for your detention . Before conviction, you may not be restrained more than is necessary to detain you to answer the charge .

- Prompt appearance before a magistrate. If you are arrested without a warrant, you must be taken without unnecessary delay before the nearest or most accessible magistrate, and a complaint must be made setting forth the facts showing the offense for which you were arrested . This requirement does not apply if the arresting peace officer decides instead to proceed under the citation-and-release provisions of A.R.S. § 13-3903 .

- Right to counsel. Any attorney licensed in Arizona must, at your request or the request of someone acting on your behalf, be permitted — under reasonable regulations — to visit you after arrest .

- Protections regarding confessions. A confession is admissible against you only if voluntarily given, and the trial judge must determine voluntariness outside the jury's presence before it is admitted . In assessing voluntariness, the judge must consider all the circumstances, including the time between arrest and arraignment, whether you knew the nature of the offense, whether you were advised that you were not required to make a statement and that any statement could be used against you, whether you were advised of your right to counsel before questioning, and whether you were without counsel when questioned . A voluntary statement made without interrogation, or made while you were not under arrest or detention, may still be admitted .

- Extradition arrests. If you are arrested on a warrant from another state, you may not be surrendered unless you have been informed of the demand, the crime charged, and your right to legal counsel; if you wish to test the legality of the arrest, you must be taken promptly before a judge and given a reasonable time to apply for a writ of habeas corpus .

Scope limitations: The sources provided do not address several related topics — for example, the right to bail, the right to a phone call, or how long you may be held before charges are filed. Source  concerns emergency mental-health detention (including the right to be informed of your rights and to court-appointed counsel in that context) , and source  applies only to persons subject to Arizona's military code ; neither governs an ordinary criminal arrest. For advice about your specific situation, consult a licensed Arizona attorney.