Chapter 12

1. Chapter 12 Interrogation and Confessions

2. Evolution of Miranda Warnings • The Fifth and Sixth Amendments trace their origin to British common law • The Fifth Amendment protects against compelled self-incrimination • The Sixth Amendment grants assistance of counsel

3. The Fifth Amendment • “No person . . . shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself” • Commonly known as the privilege against self-incrimination

4. Interrogation Techniques • From the 1860s onward, documented interrogation techniques called the "third degree" included: • Beatings, rubbing lighted cigars against a suspect's arm or neck; lifting, kicking, squeezing a suspect's testicles; dragging, pulling, or lifting a woman by her hair

5. Brown v. Mississippi (1936) • Issue: Whether convictions based upon confessions obtained by torture are legal under the Constitution? • Holding: No. Confessions obtained by torture violate the Constitution’s due process clause

6. Incorporating the protections of the Bill of Rights to the States • Mapp v. Ohio: 4th Am: States must exclude illegally obtained evidence in criminal trials • Malloy v. Hogan: 5thAm: States cannot use compelled confessions • Gideon v. Wainwright: 6th Am: States must provide counsel at trial • Escobedo v. Illinois: 6th Am: Right to counsel at interrogations

7. Miranda v. Arizona (1966) • Issue: Whether statements are admissible if obtained from a defendant questioned while in custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way? • Holding: No. Suspects must be informed of procedural safeguards effective to secure the privilege against self-incrimination before confession obtained

8. Court’s reasoning in Miranda 1. The 5th Am protects against compelled self incrimination 2. Common police interrogation techniques are designed to compel self incrimination and, 3. Procedural safeguards in the form of Miranda warnings are necessary to counterbalance the compulsory nature of police interrogation

9. The Miranda Warnings 1. You have the right to remain silent 2. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law 3. You have a right to have an attorney present during questioning 4. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to represent you

10. When to give Miranda warnings • Miranda warnings must be given before custodial interrogation • Suspect is in custody when she does not feel free to leave or otherwise terminate the police encounter

11. In Custody? Factors to Consider 1. The duration of the detention 2. Pressure applied to detain the suspect 3. The physical surroundings 4. The language and posture of the officer(s) doing the questioning

12. Interrogation • Questioning by law enforcement designed to elicit incriminating information

13. Hardaway v. Young (2002) • Issue: Was Hardaway’s confession involuntary because he was questioned for many hours and was 14-years-old? • Holding: No. Under the totality of the circumstances and Hardaway’s previous CRJ experience, confession was voluntary

14. Giving Miranda Warnings • For a confession to be admissible against the defendant at trial, the government must prove that officers: 1. Gave the suspect Miranda warnings, and 2. The suspect waived those rights “voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently”

15. Invoking Miranda • If a suspect indicates he wants to stop talking, officers must stop the interrogation immediately • If a suspect asks for a lawyer, one must be present before questioning can continue

16. Miranda Waiver • The test for a legal waiver of Miranda rights is two pronged: 1. Understanding the rights given up and knowing the consequences of waiver and 2. Voluntariness of the waiver

17. Missouri v. Seibert (2004) • Issue: Was Seibert’s confession improperly admitted at trial because of the “double-interviewing” technique, where police first obtained her confession, then sanitized it with Miranda warnings? • Holding: Yes. Seibert’s conviction overturned

18. Miranda Exceptions • Volunteered statements • Public safety questions • Questioning by ordinary citizens • Routine booking questions • Questions at crime scenes • Investigative detentions/routine traffic stops • Undercover officers/informants/parolees

19. Exclusionary Rule • The exclusionary rule is a judge-made rule designed to deter police misconduct • If police violate the 4th, 5th or 6th Amendments in obtaining evidence, then the court punishes the police by excluding the illegally-obtained evidence

20. Fruit of the Poisonous Tree and Attenuation • The original illegality in obtaining the evidence in violation of the Constitution taints the tree trunk which then poisons the fruit • Poisoned fruit must be suppressed unless there is sufficient time and distance between the initial taint and the eventual poison

21. United States v. Patane (2004) • Issue: Whether a failure to give a suspect Miranda warnings requires suppression of the physical fruits of the suspect's otherwise voluntary statements? • Holding: No. Physical evidence derived from unwarned statements is admissible

22. Inevitable Discovery • If the tainted evidence would have been found inevitably despite the officer’s illegal conduct that poisoned the tree, it is admissible

23. Independent Source • If evidence was found through an independent source unrelated to the officer’s initial illegal conduct that poisoned the tree, it is admissible

24. Collateral Uses of Excluded Evidence • Evidence collected illegally may still be used in the following proceedings: • Habeas corpus and sentencing • Grand jury, deportation, parole revocation • Federal civil tax prosecutions