The Crime That Gave Us Miranda Rights

ernesto miranda's typed confession with the words this statement has been made voluntarily printed at the top was the only real evidence against him last week we explored how the catastrophic oil spill from the exxon valdez forced a complete overhaul of environmental law this week we examine a much quieter moment a two hour interrogation in a phoenix police station that triggered an equally profound revolution in the rights of the individual against the power of the state the story begins in march 1963 a young woman in phoenix arizona was abducted and raped ten days later police arrested a 23 year old man named ernesto miranda miranda was poor had only a ninth grade education and a history

of mental instability he was in every sense a vulnerable person caught in the machinery of the justice system at the police station he was placed in a lineup and identified by the victim and then he was taken into interrogation room number 2 for two hours two detectives questioned him no one hit him no one threatened him outright but crucially no one told him he had the right to remain silent no one told him he could have a lawyer present at the end of those two hours miranda had not only confessed to the crime but he had also signed a written statement his lawyer at trial a court appointed attorney named alvin moore argued that the confession was coerced and shouldn't be admitted as evidence the judge disagreed miranda was convicted and sentenced to twenty to thirty years in prison and for most people in most cases that would have been the end of it but it wasn't miranda's case

was taken up on appeal by the american civil liberties union a prominent phoenix lawyer argued that miranda's confession was not truly voluntary because he was unaware of his constitutional rights the arizona supreme court upheld the conviction reasoning that miranda had not specifically requested a lawyer so they appealed again this time to the highest court in the land the united states supreme court and here is where the story shifts the case was no longer about ernesto miranda's guilt or innocence it became about a fundamental question of american law when does the fifth amendment's protection against self incrimination actually begin does it only apply in a courtroom or does it follow you into the interrogation room the

supreme court led by chief justice earl warren took a hard look not just at miranda's case but at the very nature of police interrogations they read police manuals from the time training guides that taught officers how to use psychological tactics to secure a confession techniques designed to intimidate to disorient and to create a sense of hopelessness the court recognized that the environment of a police interrogation with its isolation and implicit authority is inherently coercive it puts a person at a severe disadvantage so in a landmark five to four decision in 1966 the court ruled that for a confession to be admissible the suspect must be made aware of their rights before questioning begins this is

the birth of what we now call the miranda warning 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 appointed for you these weren't new rights they were existing rights but for the first time the law required that you be told about them the decision was a legal earthquake it fundamentally changed police procedure in every precinct in the united states and the debate it started continues to this day some argue it handcuffs the police allowing guilty people to go free on a technicality others maintain it is an essential safeguard the only thing standing between an individual and the immense power

of the state protecting the innocent from false confessions born of fear and exhaustion as for ernesto miranda his confession was thrown out he was granted a new trial without the confession the state presented other evidence and he was convicted again after being paroled he was stabbed to death in a bar fight in 1976 when police arrested a suspect for his murder the first thing they did was pull out a card and read him his rights