Title: Miranda v Arizona 384 U.S. 436 (1966)
Facts: Ernesto Miranda was arrested for the allegedly kidnapping/raping an 18 year old woman near Phoenix, Arizona. When he was brought into the station, police questioned him and after two hours with no lawyer present, Miranda confessed to the crimes. When it came to going to trial, Miranda was appointed a defense attorney- because it was mandated that all defendants have representation paid for by the government. In the end, Miranda’s defense attorney was ineffective in trying to prove Miranda to be “mentally defective or insane”, resulting in Miranda being convicted. The conviction was based off of the confession Miranda gave and the eyewitness identification of him by the victim. After Miranda was convicted, he was represented by different lawyers in front of the supreme court and they argued that the police questioning/interrogating without an attorney present violated Miranda’s fifth and sixth amendment rights, and therefore should not be able
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Can the confession Miranda gave be used in trial against him? In a 5-4 decision, the court determined that in order for an interrogation and the statements made on behalf of the defendant to be considered as evidence, and in order to protect the accused, the accused needs to be aware of the fact that he/she has the right to an attorney, aware of self incrimination, and will need to voluntarily give up their right to these things if they choose to do so. In this case it was decided that it was not acceptable to use the confession Miranda made against him, and his rights were violated. If any of these criteria are not met, any statements made during an interrogation cannot be used against the defendant, otherwise their rights would be violated. This case is very significant because it changed the way officers perform their duties, and all accused must be read their miranda