Ernest Miranda - Criminal Justice

Miranda's life of crime continued. He was arrested March 13, 1963, in Phoenix, Arizona, as a suspect in the armed robbery of a bank worker. While in police custody, Miranda signed a written confession to the robbery, as well as the kidnap and rape of an eighteen-year-old woman in the desert outside Phoenix. The police interrogated Miranda for two hours without advising him he had the right to remain silent or to have an attorney present during questioning. The police form he signed was a preprinted warning of rights with a blank for the name of the person making the statement. Signing the form indicated the confession he gave was voluntary, making it admissible in court.

On March 14 Miranda was taken before a city magistrate and charged with failure to register as an ex-convict. He was sentenced to ten days and transferred to the county jail. This allowed police time to hold him while investigating the more serious charges. They soon charged Miranda with robbery, kidnapping, and rape. He was assigned an attorney to defend him at trial.

Ernest Miranda was convicted of robbery on June 19, 1963, in Maricopa County Superior Court. The following day his trial began for the kidnapping and rape charges. Miranda's confession was admitted into evidence and the jury deliberated for five hours before returning a guilty verdict on June 27. Miranda received two concurrent terms in the Arizona State Prison at Florence. He received twenty to thirty years for each of the charges against him.

In December 1963 Miranda's attorney appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court on the grounds that Miranda did not know he was protected from self-incrimination and that he had been tricked into confessing to the crimes. By February 1966 the case had made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren (1891–1974; see sidebar).