When learning about or researching many famous cases, I
often wondered what actually happened to the person involved. The legal battle and back story rarely ends
with the famous case. In my own
practice, winning in the appellate court can either be a decisive victory or
simply one step toward achieving victory.
I figured other people may also be curious. This is the first part in a series of looks
into the back story and aftermath of these individuals made famous by their
famous case.
In 1963, Ernesto Miranda was arrested for kidnapping and
rape by the Phoenix Police Department. After two hours of interrogation, he
confessed. He was not told he had the
right to counsel, nor was he told he had the right to remain silent. He was convicted and sentenced to 20 to 30
years in prison. The Arizona Supreme
Court upheld his conviction and the admission of his confession. An appeal to the United States Supreme Court
resulted in the famous decision in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966). The court threw out his confession and
conviction because he was not warned of his right to remain silent and his
right to an attorney. This led to the
famous Miranda warnings, which are:
You
have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against
you in a court of law. You have the
right to an attorney. If you cannot
afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you.
Failure to comply with this requirement can result in
suppression of evidence after the filing of a motion to suppress.
Miranda’s case was sent back to the trial court, where he
was retried and convicted without the use of his illegally obtained
confession. He was again sentenced to
serve 20-30 years in 1967. He was
paroled in 1972. After his release, he made
a living autographing police officer’s Miranda cards, which the police used to
read the Miranda warnings to suspects.
Miranda was stabbed to death in a bar in 1976. Ironically, the suspect invoked his right to
remain silent and did not confess. He was
released for lack of evidence against him.
Authored by Attorney Daniel Gigiano.
Attorney Daniel Gigiano
practices in Wadsworth, Ohio, where he has a general practice as your Medina
County Lawyer in Wadsworth, Wayne County Lawyer, Summit County Lawyer, as well
as in surrounding counties. Attorney
Gigiano spends a great deal of his practice in the area of criminal defense and
has tried numerous jury trials to a verdict, including in Medina Common Pleas,
Summit Common Pleas, Wadsworth Municipal Court, and Wayne County Municipal
Court. He is located at 102 Main St.,
Ste. 200, Wadsworth, Ohio 44281, and can be reached at 330-336-3330.
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