The Significance of Miranda

The Significance of Miranda Warning (Your Name (Your University

2007

The Significance of Miranda Warning

The Miranda warnings are set out in the doctrine enunciated by the United States Supreme Court in 1966 in the case of Miranda v Arizona (384 U .S . 436 . These warnings requirement consist in effectively advising and informing the criminal suspect that he has the right to remain silent , anything he says can and will be used against him he has the right to confer with a counsel before being interrogated and to have such counsel

present while he is being interrogated and that if the suspect cannot afford counsel , one will be provided for him before the interrogation if he so desires (Miranda v . Arizona , 384 U .S 436 . The defendant may voluntarily , knowingly and intelligently waive these rights before or at any stage of the interrogation (Miranda v . Arizona , 384 U .S . 436 . The Court further ruled that statements made by the criminal suspect shall be inadmissible during the trial unless it is shown that he waived his rights intelligently and knowingly after being informed of the same and after being given the opportunity to exercise them (Miranda v . Arizona , 384 U .S . 436 . These warnings are held to afford the criminal suspect his Fifth Amendment constitutional right against self-incrimination and the Sixth Amendment right to counsel including the due process clause of the Constitution

The warnings are held to apply when the criminal suspect is under the custody of the police and under interrogation . In explaining what `custody ' constituted , the Court held that it consisted in the restriction of freedom of movement by police (Oxford Companion 2005 . On the other hand , the Court held in the case of Rhode Island v Innis (1980 ) that `interrogation ' exists whenever police reasonably expect that a suspect is likely to offer incriminating information (Oxford Companion , 2005

The Miranda warnings became very controversial and widely criticized in the beginning . Law enforcement supporters were angered and claimed that the doctrine undermined the efficiency of the police However , through the years although it had been tested and retried - the doctrine has time and again reaffirmed

It signifies the manner by which the society views the lowly criminal suspect as one to be accorded with dignity and respect and whose rights must still be protected . Thus , it signifies protection of the defendant 's interests as well as those of the society 's

The Miranda safeguards are crafted due to the nature and intense pressures of custodial investigations . Most often the criminal suspect is at a disadvantage and the police officers , at an advantageous position . The suspect may be compelled to admit his guilt out of fear or try to vindicate himself thereby increasing the risk of providing evidence against himself . It was also devised as a deterrent to police considering that there is tremendous opportunity for physical coercion and violence

These safeguards also served as clear guidelines to be followed by the police as well as the courts . It made...