Does law enforcement have to tell you that your under arrest? To understand the context of what I mean

Question

I was once stopped and the officer after he ran names and plates of the car etc. came to the window asked me to get out of the car, and I did walked to the back of it, told me to put my hands out and he searched me and handcuffed me and walked to his squad and put me in the back and the only thing he said was "this doesnt mean your getting brought in" and he said the exact same thing shortly after while in squad before we pulled away and drove me to the jail as If implying I was not under arrest buti was handcuffed in back and got taken to jail. This was in Minnesota I was stopped for an out headlight, I am not a felon, it was not a DUI or anything , I did not have a valid licence, car was registered and insured. It wasn't until there while being questioned and fingerprinted that I asked the one doing the booking what am I under arrest for

Jonathan Matthew Holson · Answer

Typically an officer would tell you that you are under arrest and typically you would be informed what you are being arrested for.  The fact that the office did not do that, is not necessarily going to result in a remedy.  But there could be something here if you were questioned after arrest without a Miranda warning.  You should consult directly with a criminal defense attorney to discuss what occurred here.  Good luck.

Thomas C Gallagher · Answer

Police generally try to delay what a court may later view as "the moment of arrest." Why? Because at the moment of arrest, the judge can scrutinize whether the police officer had "probable cause to arrest" at that time (disregarding information the police officer learned later on).  Generally police learn more information as the "pre-arrest seizure" goes on over time.  Therefore, the longer the police officer can delay "the moment of arrest," the more information the officer will tend to gather to support probable cause to suspect criminal activity or an observed traffic violation.  Police officers are not generally required to utter words like "you are now under arrest."  A judge will evaluate whether, and when, person was "under arrest" based upon all the circumstances.  The law also has related concepts such as "in custody" for purposes of a Miranda Warning, which may not always coincide with "arrest" in every scenario.  Within the context of a legal challenge to admissibility of a Miranda warning challenge.  Bottom line: discuss with your attorney.

Q: Does law enforcement have to tell you that your under arrest? To understand the context of what I mean