In March, 1963, Ernesto Miranda was arrested by the police for a bank robbery in Phoenix, Arizona. After 2 hours of harsh interrogation in which he was not offered the services of a lawyer, police were able to extract a confession not only of robbery but of rape as well committed by Miranda 11 days earlier.
Miranda was trialed and sentenced to 20 years in prison. His lawyer appealed to the US Supreme Court, which on June 13, 1966 annulled the sentence of the Arizona court and ordered a new trial in which Miranda’s confession would not be accounted as evidence.
This case established what is known today as Miranda Rights according to which a suspects enjoy the basic right not to incriminate themselves based on the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution.
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