“Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Jen Shah’s legal team suggested that she couldn’t read her Miranda rights when she was arrested because of her “blurry vision” caused by “dry” contact lenses, People magazine reports.
Shah’s team said the “RHOSLC” star “was unable to read” the waiver to waive her Miranda rights, which she reportedly signed when she was arrested back in March, according to People magazine.
What are Miranda rights?
The Deseret News recently explained the history of Miranda rights, which are read as, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you.”
What happened to Jen Shah?
Shah was arrested back in March “on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering,” according to Deseret News.
What happened with Jen Shah and Miranda rights?
Per People magazine, Shah explained in a written declaration that she was on her way to film an episode of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” when she got a call about her husband. She decided to go home to find out what was happening. She said she was then told to pull over and police would meet her where she was. Law enforcement then came over and arrested her.
- “I was walked to the back of the car, placed in handcuffs, and told that they had a warrant for my arrest,” Shah alleged in a statement, according to People magazine. “I was at this point very confused and emotionally off-balance from the strange series of events, and thought I might have been the victim of a false identification.”
Then, Shah said she was taken to an ICE headquarters, where she was handcuffed to a chair and given a printed copy of the Miranda rights. She then said her eyesight made it difficult to sign, per People magazine.
- “Although I heard the words Det. Bastos read clearly, my contact lenses, which were in my eyes, were dry, and I did not have my reading glasses, so my vision was blurry and I was unable to read the paper in front of me,” she said. “Even while being read my rights, I did not fully understand what was going on, and still thought that one explanation might be a potential misidentification.”
Shah said she heard all the Miranda rights but she signed the page on the wrong areas because of her blurry vision, according to People magazine. She was then uncuffed so she could fix her contact lenses before she was handcuffed again.
Per People magazine, her lawyers now argue that Shah, who signed the Miranda rights paper, ”did not do so voluntarily, but rather as a direct result of law enforcement deception and trickery calculated to overpower her will.”