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The Warren Court (1953–69)

Criminal Procedure and Constitutional Rights

Who was Miranda?

Ernesto A. Miranda was a criminal defendant convicted of rape who challenged his conviction in a Supreme Court case that bears his name. Miranda was arrested on suspicion of robbery. During a two-hour interrogation at a Phoenix police station, Miranda not only confessed to the robbery, but also to sexually assaulting and raping a woman eleven days earlier. The police officers never informed Miranda that he had a right to have a lawyer present during questioning. A jury convicted Miranda of kidnapping and rape and sentenced him to twenty to thirty years for each offense. Miranda’s lawyers argued that their client’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination was violated by the coercive interrogation. In Miranda v. Arizona (1966), the U.S. Supreme Court agreed.



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