PART IV – ADMISSIONS AND CONFESSIONS / MIRANDA (suggested time 5 hours)

 

1.     Identify that voluntariness is the overriding procedural requirement regarding the obtaining of admissions and confessions.

 

2.     Identify the following regarding the Miranda v. Arizona decision:

 

a.  The purpose of a Miranda warning.

b.  What Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is protected by the reading of the "Miranda Rights?"

c.  The relevant provision of that Amendment.

d.  The reason assistance of an attorney is promised in a Miranda warning.

e.  When a Miranda warning is required (the “Miranda Equation”)?

f.   The Miranda warning requirement for non-testimonial evidence.

g.  Why it is generally not a good idea to give a Miranda warning when it is not required?

 

3.     Identify to whom the Miranda warning requirement applies.

 

4.     Identify the following regarding a definition of “custody for Miranda purposes”:

                         

a.  The general rule regarding custody for Miranda purposes.

b.  What is meant by “reasonable” belief in this general rule?

c.  The effect of any of the custody issues on the need for Miranda warnings.

 

5.     Identify the following regarding a definition of “interrogation for Miranda purposes”:

 

a.  When asking questions is clearly interrogation for Miranda purposes and when it is not.

b.  When interrogation exists even when no questions are being asked.

c.  The best procedure to follow when listening to volunteered statements without giving Miranda.

         

6.     Identify the following regarding the giving of a Miranda warning:

 

a.  Who must prove that a Miranda warning was made and that it was valid?

b.  The content of a court-acceptable Miranda warning.

c.  The two things to which a suspect must agree before interrogation may begin.

d.  The value of a written waiver of rights.

 

7.     Identify the effect of the following on the procedure to be followed for a Miranda warning and subsequent waiver:

 

a.  The youth of the suspect or inexperience with police officers.

b.  The apparent intelligence of the suspect.

c.  The suspect is under the influence of drugs including alcohol.

d.  The suspect is an attorney and already knows his/her rights.

e.  The suspect has been arrested before and already knows his/her rights.

f.   The suspect has his/her attorney present during questioning.

 

8.     Identify what the officer should do, after giving a Miranda warning, if:

 

a.  The suspect cannot or will not understand the warning.

b.  The suspect agrees to make a statement.

c.  The suspect states that he/she does not wish to talk.

d.  The suspect states that he/she wishes to have an attorney, now or in the future.

e.  The suspect agrees to talk but will not sign a written waiver.

f.   The suspect does not respond to the warning at all.

g.  The suspect starts giving a statement immediately after the warning.

h.  The suspect’s answer leaves him/her unsure if there was a waiver.

i.   The suspect refuses to give a statement to you, but other officers wish to question him/her about another crime.

j.   The suspect changes his/her mind about the waiver after interrogation has begun.

k.  The suspect wishes to waive his/her rights after an initial refusal to talk.

l.   The suspect wishes to waive his/her rights after an initial request for an attorney.

m. The suspect makes ambiguous requests to stop answering questions or to have an attorney present during questioning

 

9.     Identify the following regarding the repeating of the Miranda warning:

 

a.  The situations discussed in class and the text where it is a good idea to repeat a Miranda warning.

b.  What should be done if prior custodial interrogation took place without a Miranda warning?

 

10.   State how long the Miranda protections last, after a suspect has invoked the Rights in response to a warning.

 

11.   Identify the following about the protection of a suspect’s Sixth Amendment rights:

 

a. What a suspect becomes once the government initiates adversarial judicial proceedings against a suspect, how that initiation can be done, and the effect of the attachment of Sixth Amendment Rights on issues discussed under Miranda.

b.  Whether a defendant may still waive his/her Rights.

c.  Whether interrogation of the defendant on unrelated crimes is allowed.

 

12.   Describe the following in an essay, given a description of an arrest, interrogation, and subsequent search:

 

a.  Whether the confession and the evidence seized would be admissible.

b.  The reason why a given piece of evidence would be admissible or not.

c.  The rules of evidence discussed in class which would apply to that decision.

 

13.   Demonstrate an appropriate method for giving the Miranda Warning and obtaining a waiver, given a role-playing scenario.