Title: Miranda v. Arizona - Crime Museum
Headings: Miranda v. Arizona
Miranda v. Arizona
Back to Crime Library

Content: nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” The Miranda case arose from several cases that occurred throughout the country, all of which featured a defendant not given a warning of their rights at the start of their police interrogation. In several of these cases, the police had forced the petitioners to sign statements that were made without informing them of their right to counsel. These instances ( Vignera v. New York, California v. Stewart, Westover v. United States) were consolidated together in the Miranda case. The petitioner in the Miranda case was Ernesto Miranda, a Phoenix resident who was charged with rape, kidnapping, and robbery. During Miranda’s police interrogation, he allegedly confessed to committing the crimes, which was later used in his trial as evidence to sentence him to 20 years in prison. However, Miranda appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court, claiming that the police had unconstitutionally obtained his confession because they did not inform him of his right to counsel. After the state court disagreed and upheld his conviction, Miranda appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which reviewed the case in 1966. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled for Miranda, holding that prosecutors were prohibited from using statements from defendants if they had not been informed of their legal rights. Therefore, Miranda’s confession could not be submitted as evidence against him in his criminal case.