WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court said today suspects must explicitly tell police they want to be silent to invoke their Miranda protection during interrogations.

A right to remain silent and a right to a lawyer are the first of the Miranda rights warnings, which police recite to suspects during arrests and interrogations. But the justices said today suspects must tell police they are going to remain silent to stop an interrogation, just as they must tell police they want a lawyer.

The ruling comes in a case where a suspect remained mostly silent for a three-hour police interrogation before implicating himself in a murder.

He appealed his conviction, saying he invoked his Miranda right to remain silent by remaining silent.