Admissions and silence · Florida
Why admissions to police make a case harder to defend
With Sabrina Jadunandan, Orlando DUI defense attorneyDuration 1:01Reviewed 2026-08-07
English captions are available in the player.
What happens if I admit something to police during a Florida stop?
Admissions do most of the state's work. Sabrina's January 'exercise' video is about exercising the right to remain silent: when an officer points at something during a stop and asks what it is, they usually already know — the question exists to capture your acknowledgement. Confirming it turns a contestable case into a much harder one. You can ask for an attorney, or simply say you do not know. Silence keeps the defense's options open.
What this video covers
- Why officers ask questions they know the answer to
- How admissions foreclose defenses
- Asking for an attorney instead
Editorial note
Despite the FSE-styled title, the verified content is about exercising the right to remain silent (a New Year 'exercise resolution' pun). Sabrina's example is a traffic stop where the driver admits drugs in the car; no field sobriety content appears, so this does not duplicate Exhibits 09 or 10.
Full transcript
Well, hello everyone. It's Sabrina the DUI Gyal and it's January. A lot of people at the beginning of the month makes exercise resolutions, so I figure I make a little motivational video about exercising your right to remain silent because sometimes people just admit to things that if they didn't say anything at all, it makes it so much easier to defend the case. So like, for example, right? Let's say that a police officer stops somebody is a traffic stop and it's like to speeding, maybe they didn't stop at a stop sign and then maybe there's some drugs in the car. And the police officer comes over and they're like, hey, what's that? They know what it is, but they want to make sure that you know what it is. So if they're if you're like, oh, it's just some cocaine. Oh, it's just some meth. That makes it so much harder to defend when you make admissions. So you can always ask for an attorney, or you can always be like, I don't know. I don't know what is that? It makes it so much easier for us to defend if you exercise your right to remain silent.
Florida law and sources
- U.S. Constitution, Fifth AmendmentConstitution Annotated
- Miranda warnings and custodial interrogationConstitution Annotated
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About Sabrina Jadunandan
Former DUI prosecutor, now an Orlando DUI defense attorney.
The information on this website is for general information only and is not legal advice.