Youngstown Daily Legal News

Fifty years later, Miranda v. Arizona decision is this year's Law Day theme

ANNIE YAMSON
Special to the Legal News
Published: April 29, 2016

This year marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most well-known United States Supreme Court decisions, Miranda v. Arizona, and in recognition of the anniversary the case is the theme of this year’s Law Day.

In a nod to this year’s theme, the Columbus Bar Association’s May 2 continuing legal education course will reflect the national theme: Miranda.

In the 1966 case, a 5-4 majority in the high court held that defendant Ernesto Miranda was wrongfully convicted on charges of rape and kidnapping.

The police never informed Miranda of his right to an attorney and against self-incrimination before questioning.

Miranda, with no counsel present and a history of mental illness, was subjected to a two-hour interrogation and eventually confessed to the crimes. He was sentenced to 20 to 30 years in prison.

In 1966, Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote that the prosecution could not use Miranda’s confession as evidence in a criminal trial because he was never informed of his constitutional rights.

The landmark case gave rise to the mandatory “Miranda rights” that those taken into custody hear today.

But Miranda does not stop with the 1966 decision, according to Jonathan Tyack, partner at Tyack Law, who will be presenting the CLE course.

“Like any doctrine over time, Miranda evolves and there are subsequent cases that flush out some of the nuances of the rule,” Tyack said.

The seminar will begin with the history and the academic literature that led up to the Miranda decision and then, attending attorneys will cover the effects of the decision in the ensuing decades.

“Then, we’ll also be focusing on the relevance of Miranda today and how it affects not only what lawyers do but what police officers do in their daily jobs,” Tyack said.

Deceptive police tactics and the psychology of interrogation are on the agenda for the seminar, as is a gentle reminder than confessions must always be voluntary.

“Confessions, whether Miranda rights are read or not, confessions must still be voluntary, that’s a rule that has never changed,” Tyack said. “I think sometimes lawyers focus so much on Miranda that they forget some of the historical context that created Miranda in the first place so I think it’s helpful for lawyers to understand how that context affects their cases that they are handling in the present day.”

Tyack also plans to cover current caselaw that illustrates how Miranda has evolved over time.

“Although this isn’t the Miranda issue per se, one of the issues we are going to discuss at the seminar are some of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding pre-arrest silence,” Tyack said.

According to the nation’s high court, Miranda is only triggered if a person is taken into custody. That means that a refusal to talk to police before an arrest can be used against a defendant at trial.

Tyack uses the example of a robbery investigation during which police approach a person on the street and ask about the crime, whether they saw anything or where they were at the time.

If the person refuses to speak to the police and later gets charged, they can be impeached during trial.

“Let’s say he takes the witness stand and says he was at his girlfriend’s house when the robbery happened,” said Tyack. “The prosecutor is then allowed to cross-examine the defendant and say, ‘Well isn’t it true that the police approached you and you refused to talk to them at that time?’”

It sounds odd, he said, but it’s an example of how caselaw constantly evolves around Miranda.

“I think a lot of people, including lawyers, would say, ‘Well, that can’t be the law because he has the right to remain silent,’” Tyack said. “But the law says that you’re allowed to impeach with a defendant’s pre-arrest silence so there are issues like that coming up and the U.S. Supreme Court has had some recent decisions discussing that issue and we’re going to spend some time talking about that.

“In my mind, that’s the new frontier of this issue right now.”

Next week’s CLE is schedule for 1:30 p.m. at the Columbus Bar Association.

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