Are You Informed?

Are You Informed?


Ernesto Miranda, a poor Mexican man, was arrested March 13, 1963 on charges of kidnapping and sexual assault. The police arrested him at his home in Phoenix Arizona and from there went to the police station for questioning. When Ernesto was informed of the charges against him he asked for a lawyer several times but the request was denied. After two hours of questioning the police had a voluntarily signed confession by Miranda saying he had full knowledge of his rights and the crime he committed.
At the hearing, Miranda was denied counsel again, but finally at the arraignment was appointed an attorney who was 73 years old and hadn’t practiced law in 16 years.
During the trail Miranda’s defense attorney appealed to Arizona Supreme Court, he argued the confession not be included because he wasn’t aware of his rights. The police agreed they didn’t read him his rights but since he was already a convicted criminal he should already know the...