Miranda Rights Essay Research Paper In 1966

Miranda Rights Essay, Research Paper

In 1966, the U. S. Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision in Miranda v. Arizona. The Miranda decision was a departure from the established law in the area of police interrogation. Prior to Miranda, a confession would be suppressed only if a court determined it resulted from some actual coercion, threat, or promise. The Miranda decision was intended to protect suspects of their 5th Amendment right of no self-incrimination. The verdict of Miranda v. Arizona is an efficient way of informing criminal suspects of their rights established by the Constitution, allowing un-Constitutional

confessions to be nullinvoid in the court of law. However, it does not enforce it well enough. For example, a statement taken in violation of Miranda can be used for impeachment purposes and deciding whether evidence derived from a Miranda violation is admissible. Also, Miranda applies to undercover police interrogation and prior to routine booking questions, protecting all suspect in American custody to be aware of their rights. Next, it says that police may not continue to interrogate a suspect after he makes a request for a lawyer.

At approximately 8:30 p.m. on November 27, 1962, a young woman left the First National Bank of Arizona after attending night classes. A male suspect robbed the woman of $8 at knife-point after forcing his way into her car. Four months later, the same suspect abducted an 18-year-old girl at knife-point and, after tying her hands and feet, drove to ansecluded area of the desert and raped her. On March 13, 1963, police arrested 23-year-old Ernesto Arthur Miranda as a suspect in the two crimes. Miranda had a prior arrest record for armed robbery and a juvenile record for, among other things, attempted

rape, assault, and burglary. Both victims viewed corporeal lineups and identified Miranda as their attacker. The police questioned Miranda, and he confessed to both crimes. He signed a confession to the rape that included a typed paragraph explaining that the statement was made voluntarily without threats or promises of immunity and that he had full knowledge of his rights and understood that the statement could be used against him. Ultimately, the Supreme Court reversed Miranda’s conviction and ordered that the confession in the rape case be suppressed. The Court ruled that “an individual held for

interrogation must be clearly informed that he has the right to consult with a lawyer and have the lawyer with him during inter-rogation…[that he has] the right to remain silent and that anything stated can be used in evidence against him…that if he is indigent a lawyer will be appointed to represent him” (US Suprime Court). The Court reasoned that all custodial police interrogations are inherently coercive and could never result in a voluntary statement in the absence of a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of the rights enumerated in the Miranda warnings.

Under Miranda, the Supreme Court established an irrebuttable resumption that a statement is involuntary if it is taken during custodial interrogation without a waiver of the so-called Miranda warnings. A statement taken in violation of Miranda would result in the suppression of the statement, even though the statement was otherwise voluntary and not the result of coercion of any kind. In fact, in the Miranda decision, the Supreme Court acknowledged that Ernesto Miranda was not subjected to any coercion that would render his statement involuntary in traditional terms. The Miranda requirements apply only when a suspect is both in custody and subjected to interrogation. For purposes of Miranda, “custody” is defined as an arrest or significant deprivation of freedom equivalent to an arrest. “Interrogation,” under Miranda, is defined as words or actions likely to elicit an incriminating response from an average suspect (Hogrogian, 90). If the suspect asserts the

right to silence, an officer must honor the suspect’s assertion and stop the interrogation. However, the officer may reinitiate contact and obtain a valid waiver after a reasonable period of time. On the other hand, if a suspect asserts the right to an attorney, questioning must cease and may only be recommenced if the defendant reinitiates communication with the officer.

Subsequent US Supreme Court decisions have limited the Miranda exclusionary rule. Five years after Miranda, the Supreme Court decided Harris v. New York. With only two of the five justices in the original Miranda majority still on the Court, the Supreme Court held that a statement taken in violation of Miranda could be used to impeach the credibility of a defendant at trial.

The police in Harris failed to advise the defendant of his right to counsel prior to custodial inter-rogation, which was a violation of Miranda. The prosecution did not use the statement during the case in chief. However, when the defendant took the stand, he contradicted his postarrest statement. The Supreme Court approved of the prosecution using the post-arrest statement to impeach the defendant during cross-examination, because the Court was not going to allow the defendant to use the Miranda decision as a license to commit perjury. Interestingly, the Court observed that the defendant made “no claim that the statements made to the police were coerced or involuntary” (US Suprime

Court). This statement b