Miranda Prosecution Case Study

The Miranda rights were created in 1966 by the United States Supreme Court case of Miranda v. Arizona. The purpose of the Miranda warning is to protect all suspects’ “Fifth Amendment right to refuse to answer self-incriminating questions”(Miranda Rights, 2009). The Miranda rights are done once an arrest has been made or before the questioning occurs and then an officer is free to ask questions for the investigation. The suspect can either remain silent or answer the questions being asked. Suspects must be told their constitutional right to have an attorney and against self- incrimination before the questions.

“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...this is what you hear on all your favorite cop shows. But, where did this saying come from? In 1963 Ernesto Miranda a ninth grade dropout (PBS) was arrested and charged with kidnaping, rape, and armed robbery. The police interrogated him for two hours. During the question Miranda supposedly admitted to all the crimes. The police then used Miranda’s confession to convict him in court. While in prison Miranda appealed his case and eventually brought it to the Supreme Court. The court ruled five to four in favor of Miranda. The Supreme Court was correct in their ruling of Miranda v. Arizona, because

The law enforcement official must obtain verbal or written verification that the criminal suspect understands his right to maintain silence. The law enforcement official must then say “Anything you do or say can and will be used against you in a court of law”. Again, the official must obtain verbal or written verification that the criminal suspects understands what is being said to them. The next statement is “You have the right to an attorney before speaking or have an attorney present during any questioning now or in the future. Again, verification of understanding must be established. That statement is then followed by “If you can’t afford an attorney one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you choose. The next Miranda right states that “ If you decide to answer questions now without an attorney present you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney. The last Miranda right specifically asks “Knowing and understanding your rights as I have explained them to you, are you willing to answer my questions without an attorney present?” Again after each and every statement given by the law enforcement official verbal or written verification that the suspect understands must be obtained.

The last fifty years of American law have changed drastically due to numerous “landmark” court cases. For those who have studied these landmark cases, Miranda v. Arizona is one of the most crucial of these cases. Until the Miranda v. Arizona trial of 1966, when a person was arrested, they were not given a fair awareness of their rights as a citizen, which often times resulted in the self incrimination or unknowingly admitting to guilt (McBride). The Miranda decision provided a constitutional and reasonable way of allowing the suspect to fully embrace their fifth and sixth amendment rights without any form of admission of guilt.

A man named Ernesto Miranda was arrested in Phoenix on suspicion that he had been involved in the kidnapping and rape of a young girl. After being arrested, Miranda was questioned by investigators. Later in the interrogation, investigators handed Miranda a signed confession to fill out. Included in that form was a disclaimed by Miranda that he understood his rights and that he freely waived them. Miranda, however, had not been told prior to signing that statement that he had the right to attorney. Likewise, he was not advised of his right to remain silent, and he was not advised that the statements he made in the interview could be used against him if he went to trial. At trial, prosecutors sought to use the confession as evidence against Miranda, and his attorneys objected. The objection was overruled, and Miranda was convicted, largely on the strength of his confession. His lawyers appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court, and when the court affirmed the trial court’s ruling, the lawyers appealed further to the Supreme Court of the United States.

A person doesn’t need a lawyer to help decide if they want to waive their Miranda rights. The compelling atmosphere of a custodial setting I believe is just as likely to influence a person’s decision to waive rights as it’s to influence the decision to confess.

This case is one that changed the way the United States Police forces will work forever. Every human in the world has natural born rights. Even people who have been arrested have rights, ‘The rights of the accused’. These rights are the main point of this court case.

Now, if a person is not warned of their Miranda rights, then any information which was obtained through interrogation will be inadmissible at trial. The “Miranda warning is in place to allow an accused to consult with an attorney before a custodial interrogation, even though they may not be formally arrested” (“The Difference between”, n.d.). The term in custody does not mean they are in custody for Miranda

If a officers question a suspect without first giving the Miranda rights, any statement or confession made is presumed to be involuntary, and cannot be used against the suspect in any criminal case. In other words it can't be used against you in any way.Any evidence gotten as a result of the confession will most likely be thrown out of the case. And will never be used against you. This is good because it preserves you liberty. So if they don't say the Miranda rights to you then they can't use the evidence they gathered against you. This ensures justice to the person in custody .

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 speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during police questioning, if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you by the state. These words have preceded every arrest since Miranda v. Arizona 1966, informing every detained person of his rights before any type of formal police questioning begins. This issue has been a hot topic for decades causing arguments over whether or not the Miranda Warnings should or should not continue to be part of police practices, and judicial procedures. In this paper, the author intends to explore many aspects of the Miranda

Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? These are all questions evolving from the recent Miranda V Arizona court case. Ernesto Miranda was arrested in his home on March 13th, 1963 and brought to a police station. They had reason to believe he had connection to a kidnapping and rape, along with theft and armed robbery. The victim of the kidnapping could not recognize Miranda as her attacker, so the police escorted Miranda to an interrogation room. Miranda was interrogated for two hours, and during these two hours the police acquired a written confession to the crime from Miranda. Of course, Miranda went to trial for his actions, but during the trial, Miranda’s attorney argued in court that since the police admitted to not explaining Miranda’s rights to him, this was a violation of his fifth amendment rights. Even with all of this Miranda’s written confession was still used as evidence against him in court.

Miranda rights are part of a routine police procedure in the United States that ensures that suspects in police custody are informed of their rights before questioning. This was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court after, Miranda, a suspect of rape and kidnapping was sentenced to 20-30 years imprisonment without being informed of his constitutional rights before interrogation. The court ruled that statements made in response to interrogations by a defendant in a police custody will be admissible at trial if only the prosecution can show that the defendant was informed of the right to consult an attorney and the right against self-incrimination.

There have been many Supreme Court decisions that have greatly influenced our judicial system and the way the law is upheld. Today we’re going to talk about one of these cases, called Miranda vs. Arizona. In this case, in 1963, a man named Ernesto Miranda was tried in Phoenix, Arizona for kidnapping, rape, and robbery. He was found guilty by the jury. He was sentenced to 20 to 30 years in prison. But he was found guilty only on the basis of the confessions he made to police during an interrogation after his arrest. So Miranda made an appeal to the Supreme Court of Arizona because he said his confessions were unconstitutional. But the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision. Then Miranda made another appeal, but to a higher court, the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Miranda warning is a landmark case, the Supreme Court decided five to four majority in the case Miranda v. Arizona in 1966, stating that the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment prohibition against self-implication connected to a person in the custody of a police officer or denied of his opportunity of activity in any substantial way. However, with the specific objective to protect this benefit, the Court ruled, person must, before any questioning, be warned that he has a right to remain silent, that any statement he does make may be used as evidence against him, and that he has right to presence of an attorney, retained or appointed (Miranda v. Arizona 384 U.S. 436 (1966). Which allow the right individuals to have an attorney present prior to be questioning. Miranda warning is used and enforced by all law enforcement in the United States. It was established because of the incident of March 13, 1963, with Ernesto Miranda. The Phoenix Police Department arrested Miranda on circumstantial evidence which linked him to kidnap and rape of an eighteen year old woman a

This decision led to the creation of the Miranda Rule. This rule says that before law enforcement can take an individual into custody, they have to inform them of their 5th and 6th amendment rights. Police now are required to issue this warning: “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can or will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult with your attorney before being questioned by the police, and to have an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you before questioning….” If the Miranda warning is not read to the individual being arrested (or any time before being investigated), the evidence acquired during their interrogation is not admissible in court. (384 U.S. 436, 1966.) This case plays such a huge part in the criminal justice system today because people that are unaware of their rights as citizens can be protected. The decision in Miranda V. Arizona is constantly used as precedent today. Two cases that Miranda v Arizona has had precedent over are Missouri V. Seibert and Maryland V. Shatzer.