Miranda Rights1)

When you watch an American film or TV play，you notice that while a policeman or a lieutenant2) is cuffing a suspect he is saying something or reading something from a piece of paper to him．What he is saying or reading is called Miranda Rights．

 

Under the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America a person accused of a crime has the right to the assistance of an attorney3)．A suspect has the priviledge4) against self incrimination5)．This means that a suspect has the right to remain silent and cannot be forced to testify against himself．

 

For many years the Supreme Court6) held that a confession was not admissible as evidence if it was not voluntary and trustworthy．This meant that the use of physical force，torture7)，threats，or other techniques that could force an innocent person to confess was prohibited．Later，in the case of Escobedov．Illinois，the Supreme Court said that even a voluntary confession was inadmissible as evidence if it was obtained after denying the defendant' s request to talk with an attorney．While some defendants might ask for an attorney，other people might not be aware o f their right to remain silent or of their right to have a lawyer present during questioning．In １９６６，the Supreme Court was presented with such a situation in the case of Mirandav．Arizona．

 

Emesto Miranda was accused of kidnap ping and raping an eighteen－year－old girl near Phoenix，Arizona．The girl claimed she was on her way home from work when a man grabbed her，threw her into the back seat of a car，and raped her．Ten days later Miranda was arrested，placed in a lineup，and identified by the girl as her attacker．The police then took Miranda into an interrogation8）room and questioned him for two hours．At the end of the two hours，the officers emerged with a written and signed confession．This confession was used as evidence at trial，and Miranda was found guilty．Miranda later appealed to the U．S．Supreme Court，arguing that he had not been warned of his right to remain silent and that he had been deprived of his right to counsel．Miranda did not suggest that his confession was false or brought about by coercion，but rather that he would not have confessed if he had been advised of his right to remain silent or of his right to an attorney．

 

After considering all the arguments，the Supreme Court ruled that Miranda's confession could not be used at trial because it was obtained without informing Miranda of his constitutional rights．As a result of this case，police are now required to inform persons accused of a crime of the following Miranda rights before questioning begins：

 

You have the right to remain silent．Anything you say can be used against you in court．

 

You have the right to a lawyer and to have one present while you are being questioned．

 

If you cannot afford a lawyer，one will be appointed for you before any questioning begins．