Crim Pro Final Exam Chapter 8: Interrogations, Miranda & Confessions

What are the three benefits of confessions?

(1) Crime detection, (2) Accountability, (3) Efficiency

What are the three types of false confessions?

(1) Voluntary - given without police pressure, (2) Compliant - to escape coercive situation, (3) Internalized - suspect comes to believe they committed the crime

What are the three constitutional limitations on interrogations?

(1) Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause, (2) Fifth Amendment Self-Incrimination Clause, (3) Sixth Amendment right to counsel

What did Brown v. Mississippi establish?

Use of confessions obtained through physical coercion violates suspects’ fundamental rights and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

What did Ashcraft v. Tennessee extend?

Extended Due Process protection to include psychological coercion, not just physical coercion

What are the four purposes of the voluntariness test?

(1) Trustworthiness, (2) Fundamental fairness, (3) Deter offensive police methods, (4) Protect free will and rational choice

What must the prosecution prove regarding voluntariness?

Prosecution must establish voluntariness using totality of circumstances by preponderance of the evidence

What principle did Watts v. Indiana articulate?

Police must obey the law while enforcing the law

Is the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination applicable to the states?

Yes, it has been incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment and is applicable against the states

What type of evidence does the Fifth Amendment protect against?

The prohibition is limited to testimonial evidence, or evidence that is communicative in character (not physical evidence)

What was the core holding of Miranda v. Arizona?

Absent a three-part Miranda warning, the “inherently coercive” pressures of police interrogation overwhelm individuals’ capacity to exercise their right against self-incrimination

What did Miranda recognize about police tactics?

Police manuals instructed officers in coercive tactics like displaying confidence in guilt, minimizing offense seriousness, continuous interrogation, and good cop/bad cop techniques

What is custodial interrogation?

“Questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way”

What test determines if someone is in custody?

An objective test based on totality of circumstances: whether a reasonable person would believe they are subjected to formal arrest or custody to a degree associated with formal arrest

When are Miranda warnings NOT required?

When an individual voluntarily enters a police station to confess or voluntarily calls police to offer a confession or statement

What did New York v. Quarles establish?

A “narrow exception” to Miranda where questions directed to public safety rather than guilt do not require warnings first

What must be satisfied for the public safety exception?

(1) Reasonableness - objectively reasonable belief of public safety risk, (2) Actual threat exists, (3) Questions limited to addressing threat, (4) Not coercive beyond necessary

What three things must police inform individuals of under Miranda?

(1) Right to remain silent, (2) Anything they say may be used against them, (3) Right to an attorney, retained or appointed

Is Miranda a flexible or rigid formula?

Flexible - the test is whether the warnings viewed in their totality convey the essential information to the suspect

What is required to invoke the right to counsel (Davis v. United States)?

Individual must articulate the request “sufficiently clearly that a reasonable police officer in the circumstances would understand the statement to be a request for an attorney”

What did Berghuis v. Thompkins establish about invoking rights?

Suspects must unambiguously invoke their Miranda rights. Silence alone is not enough.

What are the two components of valid waiver (Moran v. Burbine)?

(1) Voluntary - not result of threats, tricks, coercion; (2) Knowing and Intelligent - understanding of rights and consequences

What standard of proof is required for waiver?

Preponderance of the evidence; government has “heavy burden” to demonstrate valid waiver

What is the difference between express and implied waiver?

Express - defendant affirmatively waives rights; Implied - suspect understands rights but engages in “course of conduct indicating waiver”

What makes a waiver NOT voluntary?

Evidence of threats, trickery, coercion, lengthy interrogation, or lengthy incarceration prior to confession

What did Oregon v. Elstad establish?

The unlawful character of a suspect’s first voluntary confession does not automatically taint a second voluntary confession after Miranda warnings. The warnings “cure the taint”

What did Missouri v. Seibert require?

When using question-first-warn-later technique, it must be clear to suspect that prewarning statements would be inadmissible in court

What is the test from Michigan v. Mosley for reinterrogation after invoking silence?

Whether right to silence was “scrupulously honored”: (1) Police immediately ceased, (2) Suspended for significant period, (3) Fresh warnings given, (4) Different crime focus

What did Edwards v. Arizona establish?

The “initiation test” - once suspect invokes right to counsel, police cannot reinitiate interrogation unless suspect initiates contact

What did Arizona v. Roberson hold?

Police cannot reinterrogate a suspect who invoked right to counsel about a different crime