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Content: United States
Executive summary: Mirandav. Arizona
Military service: US Army (1958-59, dishonorably discharged)
Ernesto Miranda was an eighth-grade dropout who was charged in the 1963 kidnapping and rape of a mildly retarded 18-year-old woman. He was found guilty of both crimes, based largely on his confession during police interrogations. The convictions were overturned by the US Supreme Court in 1966, because he had never been told by police that he had the Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination by not answering questions, and the Sixth Amendment right to have an attorney present during interrogation. Since Miranda's convictions were overturned, police in America have generally been required to explain these Constitutional rights in cases where a suspect's testimony may be used against him/her in court. In common parlance, this is called the Miranda warning, and while the phrasing may vary, it usually sounds something like this: " You have the right to remain silent; anything you say may be used against you in a court of law.