Missing out on Miranda: Investigating Miranda comprehension and waiver decisions in adult inpatients.
Internationally, millions of arrests occur each year, but very little is known about how suspects are informed regarding their rights as the accused and whether these rights are accurately understood. Concerns regarding accurate comprehension are further heightened for suspects with severe mental disorders (SMDs). In the United States alone, it is estimated ≥300,000 mentally disordered suspects are arrested annually and Mirandized (i.e., given American warnings regarding the rights of the accused). Despite this widespread prevalence, only two published studies have specifically targeted impaired Miranda comprehension for persons with SMDs, and none has focused directly on Miranda reasoning and waiver decisions. The current study examined both Miranda comprehension and reasoning for 85 adult inpatients recruited from a private psychiatric hospital with three major findings. First, inpatients extremely poor Miranda recall, averaging only 21.3% of the total warning. Second, none appeared to exhibit adequate abilities for Miranda reasoning. Third, an initial waiver of rights always led to a confession within several minutes of questioning. These findings and methodological issues are discussed for the United States as well as other countries.