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Miranda Rights
Miranda: Your Right to Remain Silent.
You know that you are about
to be taken into police custody when a cop say’s
"Read him his rights." , this means you are about to be informed
of your right to remain silent prior to being questioned. The “Miranda
Rights” OK , but what are these rights, and what did "Miranda" do
to get them for you?
What the Miranda Rights Say.
(Rights of Silence)
The exact wording of the "Miranda
Rights" statement is not specified in the Supreme Court's historic decision.
Instead, law enforcement agencies have created a basic set of simple statements
that can be read to accused persons prior to any questioning.
Here are paraphrased examples
of the basic "Miranda Rights" statements, along with related excerpts from
the Supreme Court's decision.
1. You have the right to remain
silent.
The Court: "At the outset, if
a person in custody is to be subjected to interrogation, he must first
be informed in clear and unequivocal terms that he has the right to remain
silent."
2. Anything you say can be used
against you in a court of law.
The Court: "The warning of the
right to remain silent must be accompanied by the explanation that anything
said can and will be used against the individual in court."
3. You have the right to have
an attorney present now and during any future questioning.
The Court: "...the right to
have counsel present at the interrogation is indispensable to the protection
of the Fifth Amendment privilege under the system we delineate today. ...
[Accordingly] we hold that an individual held for interrogation must be
clearly informed that he has the right to consult with a lawyer and to
have the lawyer with him during interrogation under the system for protecting
the privilege we delineate today."
4. If you cannot afford an attorney,
one will be appointed to you free of charge if you wish.
The Court: "In order fully to
apprise a person interrogated of the extent of his rights under this system
then, it is necessary to warn him not only that he has the right to consult
with an attorney, but also that if he is indigent a lawyer will be appointed
to represent him. Without this additional warning, the admonition of the
right to consult with counsel would often be understood as meaning only
that he can consult with a lawyer if he has one or has the funds to obtain
one.
The Court continues by declaring
what the police must do if the person being interrogated indicates that
he or she does want a lawyer...
"If the individual states that
he wants an attorney, the interrogation must cease until an attorney is
present. At that time, the individual must have an opportunity to confer
with the attorney and to have him present during any subsequent questioning.
If the individual cannot obtain an attorney and he indicates that he wants
one before speaking to police, they must respect his decision to remain
silent."
Can you be arrested without being
read your Miranda Rights? Yes!
The Miranda rights do not protect
you from being arrested, only from incriminating yourself during questioning.
All police need to legally arrest a person is "probable cause" -- an adequate
reason based on facts and events to believe the person has committed a
crime. Police are required to "Read him his (Miranda) rights," only before
interrogating a suspect. While failure to do so may cause any subsequent
statements to be thrown out of court, the arrest may still be legal and
valid.
Also without reading the Miranda
rights, police are allowed to ask routine questions like name, address,
date of birth, and Social Security number necessary to establishing a person's
identity. Police can also administer alcohol and drug tests without warning,
but persons being tested may refuse to answer questions during the tests.
How We Got Our Miranda Rights.
The "Miranda rights," named
after a Phoenix man convicted of rape about 40 years ago in a landmark
case.
The case of Ernesto Miranda
began on March 13, 1963. On March 13, 1963, $8.00 in cash was stolen from
a Phoenix, Arizona bank worker. Police suspected and arrested Ernesto Miranda
for committing the theft.
Police also suspected him of
kidnapping, raping and robbing several women from the Phoenix area. During
two-hours of questioning, Mr. Miranda, who was never offered a lawyer,
confessed not only to the $8.00 theft, but also to kidnapping and raping
an 18-year-old woman 11 days earlier. Based largely on his confession,
Miranda was convicted and sentenced to twenty years in jail.
During his trial, Miranda’s
lawyers argued that although Miranda signed a confession saying he was
aware of his legal rights, he was not informed of his right to have an
attorney present.
On June 13, 1966, the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled in deciding the case of MIRANDA v. ARIZONA, 384 U.S. 436 (1966),
reversing the Arizona Court's decision, that Mr. Miranda's rights had been
violated because he had not been advised of his right to remain silent.
Miranda won a new trial but was convicted again. The story of Ernesto Miranda
has a most ironic ending as you'll see below.
An Ironic Ending for Ernesto
Miranda
Ernesto Miranda was given a
second trial at which his confession was not presented. Based on the evidence,
Miranda was again convicted of kidnapping and rape. He was paroled from
prison in 1972 having served 11 years.
In 1976, Ernesto Miranda, age
34, was stabbed to death in a fight. Police arrested a suspect who, after
choosing to exercise his Miranda rights of silence, was released due to
lack of any other physical evidence or witness’s.
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