CJ210: Interrogation: Purpose,
Guidelines, Procedures, and the
Miranda Ruling
Unit 6 Seminar
Two Questions
• First question: What does interrogation mean to you?
• Second question: What does interview mean to you?
Interrogation & Interview
Interrogation
• Information gathering
activities that involves the
direct questioning of
suspects
• Or questioning people
suspected of direct or
indirect involvement in the
crime being investigated
• Applies to suspects or
suspects families, friends or
associates (People who may
withhold information or be
deceptive)
Interview
• Questioning people not
suspected of being involved
in a crime but who know
something about the crime
or the individuals involved in
it
• Applies to victims or
eyewitnesses, use discretion
where interviewing
• Five W’s and One H
(Minimum to cover in
interview)
Suspect
• An adult or a juvenile who has not been arrested
or charged but whom a criminal justice agency
believes bay be the person responsible for a
specific criminal offense.
• FYI: Most people have a difficult time describing
the offender
*Be aware some people will not come forward
with information
Time Magazine - 2010
TOP TEN SUPREME COURT CASES
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Brown v. Board of Education
Roe v. Wade
Miranda v. Arizona
Marbury v. Madison
United States v. Nixon
Loving v. Virginia
District of Columbia v. Heller
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Plessy v. Ferguson
Korematsu v. United States
Read more:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2036
448,00.html#ixzz1wrqKgy3m
Miranda Warning
What is the Miranda warning?
What does it mean?
Can you recite the Miranda Warning?
Where does the Miranda Warning come from?
Miranda Warning
• The set of rights that a person accused or
suspected of having committed a specific offense
has during interrogation and of which he or she
must be informed prior to questioning.
• Custody and Interrogation: both necessary
before an advisement of rights is required
• 1. You have the right to remain silent. This means you do not
have to answer any questions.
• 2. If you answer any question, anything you say can be used
against you in court.
• 3. You have the right to legal counsel. This means you may
secure the services of a lawyer of your own choosing and seek
his or her advice. You may also have him or her present with
you while you are being questioned.
• 4. If you cannot afford to hire a lawyer, one will be appointed to
represent you before any questioning takes place, if you so
wish. This will be done without any expense to you.
• 5. If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer
present, you retain the right to stop answering at any time. At
that time you still have the right to seek the advice of a lawyer
before continuing to answer questions.
Miranda Warning
Use of a card with the Miranda Warning.
This spells out the constitutional rights of the individual.
A must for officers.
• I have had my rights explained to me and have read a statement of them. I
understand what my rights are. I do not want an attorney at this time. I know and
understand the consequences of what I am doing. I am willing to answer
questions and to make a statement. No threats have been made to me. No
coercion of pressure of any kind has been exerted against
• me. No promises have been made to me.
• DATE: ____________________________
______________________________________
• (Signature)
• TIME: _____________________________
• LOCATION:
_______________________________________________________________
• WITNESS: ___________________________________________ DATE:
____________
• TIME: ____________
• WITNESS: ___________________________________________ DATE:
____________
• TIME: ____________
Sample Miranda Waiver
This is a sample of the Miranda warning waiver. Note this may vary from
agency to agency.
Miranda Warning
• 1. You have the right to remain silent. This means you do not
have to answer any questions.
• 2. If you answer any question, anything you say can be used
against you in court.
Miranda Warning
• 3. You have the right to legal counsel. This means you may
secure the services of a lawyer of your own choosing and seek
his or her advice. You may also have him or her present with
you while you are being questioned.
• 4. If you cannot afford to hire a lawyer, one will be appointed
to represent you before any questioning takes place, if you so
wish. This will be done without any expense to you.
• 5. If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer
present, you retain the right to stop answering at any time. At
that time you still have the right to seek the advice of a lawyer
before continuing to answer questions.
Miranda v. Arizona
• Ernesto Miranda
Miranda v. Arizona
• Decided 1966
• Supreme Court voted 5 to 4
When does a Police Officer have
to read the Miranda Warning?
Miranda Required
Custody + Questioning
=
Miranda + Waiver
Juveniles and Miranda Rights
Juveniles and Miranda Rights
• Yarborough v. Alvarado
Whether suspect is in custody under miranda is determined
objectively by how reasonable person in the suspect's situation
would understand ability to terminate questioning and leave
custody.
• On June 16, 2011, in J. D. B. v. North Carolina the U.S. Supreme Court
held that juveniles are entitled to expanded Miranda protection. In
this 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court explains that a reasonable
child may feel pressured to submit to police questioning where a
reasonable adult feels free to end an interrogation. Therefore,
although it may not be determinative, a juvenile suspect’s age is a
factor police must consider when deciding whether to give a
Miranda warning.
Miranda and
Undercover Officers
Illinois v. Perkins
• Miranda warnings are not required when the
suspect is unaware that he is speaking to a law
enforcement officer and gives a voluntary
statement; incriminating statement.
• The Court held that “an undercover law enforcement
officer posing as a fellow inmate need not give
Miranda warnings to an incarcerated suspect before
asking questions that may elicit an incriminating
response.”
• The Court said that “[p]loys to mislead a suspect or lull
him into a false sense of security that do not rise to
the level of compulsion or coercion to speak are not
within Miranda's concerns.”
Miranda Exception?????
New York v. Quarles
• The public safety exception holds that Miranda should not
apply to a situation in which police officers ask questions
reasonably prompted by a concern for the public safety.
Is it admissible?????
United States v. Patane
• The Court in Patane (2004) found that the introduction of
non-testimonial evidence (i.e. physical evidence) obtained as a
result of voluntary statements does not violate a suspect’s
Miranda right by negligent of non-deliberate failures to
provide full Miranda warnings.
Translators Should Administer Warnings in the
Language Other Than English
• In those situations where the officer is faced with a suspect who
either does not speak English or where English is a second language, a
different problem is presented.
Miranda Today
• The Miranda requirements apply to custodial
interrogations of suspects by law enforcement officers.
• When an officer has a suspect in custody and engages
in interrogation, the officer must inform the suspect of
his or her Miranda rights, and the officer cannot
interrogate the suspect unless he or she waives those
rights.
• If the suspect invokes his or her rights at any time, the
officer must cease interrogation and scrupulously honor
the rights the suspect asserts.
Preparation For Interrogation
• 1. Personally visit the crime scene in important cases, or refresh memory
by reviewing the crime scene photographs.
• 2. Review the entire file so as to be thoroughly familiar with all the details
of the case.
• 3. Be aware of how any physical evidence that was discovered is useful in
reconstructing the crime or in connecting a suspect to the crime scene or
victim.
Preparation -Continued
• 4. Learn as much as possible about the subject from his or her family
and friends. If the subject’s name appears in the records of the
department, the facts and circumstances of each and every incident
recorded in the files should be studied. Anyone in the department
who knows or has had contact with the subject should be queried
for any helpful insights they studied. Anyone in the department who
knows or has had contact with the subject should be queried for any
helpful insights they might be able to provide. In addition, anything
that is of concern or interest to the subject should be learned. This
would include such matters as: What job does he or she hold? Is he
or she of a religious bent? Does he or she have hobbies and other
interests—such as specific sports played or watched?
Preparation -Continued
• 5. Ascertain which elements of the crime can be proved
by the existing evidence and which still need to be
proved. Any possible incriminating facts disclosed by the
subject should be followed up, particularly when they
relate to those elements still to be proved.
Additional Questions To Consider: The
Body of the Interrogation
• His or her whereabouts at the time of the crime;
• Who he or she was with at the time;
• What he or she was doing at that time;
• Whether there was anyone who had an
opportunity to observe him or her at that time,
and who they are.