HISTORY

Give them a gist of the case

On June 13, 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court  hands down its decision
in Miranda v. Arizona, establishing the principle that all criminal
suspects must be advised of their rights before interrogation. Now
considered standard police procedure, “You have the right to remain
silent. Anything you say can, and will, be used against you in court of
law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one
will be appointed to you,” has been heard so many times in television
and film dramas that it has become almost cliche.

The roots of the Miranda   decision  go back to March 2, 1963, when an

18-year-old Phoenix woman told police that she had been abducted,
driven to the desert and raped. Detectives questioning her story gave
her a polygraph test, but the results were inconclusive. However,
tracking the license plate number of a car that resembled that of her
attacker’s brought police to Ernesto Miranda, who had a prior record as
a peeping tom. Although the victim did not identify Miranda in a line-up,
he was brought into police custody and interrogated. What happened
next is disputed, but officers left the interrogation with a confession
that Miranda later recanted, unaware that he didn’t have to say
anything at all.

The confession was extremely brief and differed in certain respects

from the victim’s account of the crime. However, Miranda’s appointed
defense attorney (who was paid $100) didn’t call any witnesses at the
ensuing trial, and Miranda was convicted. While Miranda was
in Arizona  state prison, the American Civil Liberties Union took up his
appeal, claiming that the confession was false and coerced.

The Supreme Court overturned his conviction, but Miranda was retried
and convicted in October 1966. Remaining in prison until 1972, Ernesto
Miranda was later stabbed to death in the men’s room of a bar after a
poker game in January 1976.
As a result of the case against Miranda, each and every person must
now be informed of his or her rights when in custody and about to be
interrogated