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The ever changing history of the Bill of Rights.
Written by: Andy Carney
Ernesto Arturo Miranda was no angel. In fact, you might call him a scumbag, and rightly so. Ernesto was born in March of 1941 in Mesa, Arizona. He lived a short 34 years, his life ending by getting stabbed in a bar fight and spent most of his life in and out of prison starting at 12 years old when he made his first trip to reform school. Of course, we know him only by his last name - Miranda, and the landmark Supreme Court Case of Miranda v. Arizona. I used to give Miranda rights to perps when I played cops and robbers as a kid.
Ernesto Miranda's mom died when he was young and his father remarried. He didn't get along with anyone in his family and wound up getting in trouble frequently, with two trips to the Arizona State Industrial School for Boys. After that, he moved to LA and got arrested, did more time, then drifted through the South earning himself quite a rap sheet. He eventually settled in Phoenix, got a job working nights at a loading dock and generally kept out of trouble for a couple of years.
On March 13, 1963, Ernesto Miranda's truck was stopped - fitting the description of a truck involved in the kidnapping and rape of a 17 year old girl. After Miranda was placed in a lineup, the arresting officers implied that he had been positively identified, even though he wasn't. After two hours of interrogation, Miranda finally cracked and confessed to the crime. Miranda wrote out his confession, indicating at the top of the page that he was confessing, "voluntarily and of my own free will, with no threats, coercion or promises of immunity and with full knowledge of my legal rights." He was not, however, verbally advised of his right to have an attorney present or that he could remain silent.
As you may have guessed, Ernesto couldn't afford a top tier attorney - he was assigned 73-year old public defender Alvin Moore. Alvin Moore objected to the entry of the confession as evidence, but was overruled. Moore took it to the Arizona State Supreme Court, but the conviction was upheld. Since Alvin Moore's health was declining and he was unable to continue the case, the ACLU stepped in, got a few high profile attorneys to take the case pro-bono and filed a 2,500 word petition for certiorari, arguing that Miranda's 5th amendment rights were violated.
Fifth Amendment rights were a hot topic at the time, the Supreme Court had 3 potential cases to review and there seemed to be a need to clear up the previous decision in the Escobedo v. Illinois case - where Danny Escobedo, a suspect in a murder was denied access to an attorney prior to being indicted. In this case the Supreme Court ruled that Escobedo's Sixth Amendment, not Fifth Amendment rights had been violated.
The Supreme Court decided to take the Miranda case. Attorneys for Miranda argued that as an indigent, uneducated and mentally unstable individual, people like Ernesto Miranda could not be expected to fully understand their rights. The State of Arizona argued that this was merely an attempt to expand the Sixth Amendment, was not pertinent to the Fifth Amendment, and that forcing the police to advise people of their rights would be a threat to the public safety.
As you may know, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Ernesto. Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote the opinion, stating in part, "The person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be clearly informed that he has the right to remain silent, and that anything he says will be used against him in court; he must be clearly informed that he has the right to consult with a lawyer and to have the lawyer with him during interrogation, and that, if he is indigent, a lawyer will be appointed to represent him."
Ernesto's conviction was set aside, but the State of Arizona re-tried him without the confession. Ernesto Miranda was convicted again and sentenced to 20 to 30 years. After he was paroled in 1972, he sold autographed Miranda cards for $1.50 each. After that, he had two more trips to prison and several run in's with the law until January 31, 1976 when he was fatally stabbed in a bar fight in Phoenix.
