The Mind-Blowing Origin Story of 'Miranda Rights'

[Chaindrive Profile]

On March 13, 1963, Ernesto Miranda was arrested for allegedly stealing $8 from an Arizona bank employee. Proving that "cool under pressure" is not always a trait that's present in career criminals, the questioning escalated to such a degree that, by the time it was done, Miranda had confessed to the kidnapping and rape of an 18-year-old woman a week earlier. How you don't just confess to stealing the money and keep a lid on the rest is beyond us, but hey, a confession is a confession! A trial a short time later sent Miranda and his unsavory ways to prison with a 20-year sentence.



Score one for justice, right? Wrong. Remember, this was 1963: Law & Order was another 25 years or so from airing, police still had to figure things out as they went. So when Miranda wrote "With full knowledge of my legal rights" on the top of his confession, authorities assumed that they didn't have to actually read him his rights, because what harm could entering into a gentleman's agreement with an admitted rapist lead to?

Next, in what amounts to the courtroom version of holding your crossed fingers behind your back while you tell a lie, Miranda claimed that, despite what he may have written in his confession, he in fact did not understand what his rights were while in custody. Because no one bothered to tell him, the Supreme Court ultimately ruled in his favor and dismissed his confession as inadmissible in court. Without that, prosecutors had no case. Ernesto Miranda, confessed kidnapper and rapist, was a free man.

For a while, anyway -- Miranda was tried again and wound up serving 11 years.

It would be irony enough that "Miranda rights," which are intended to protect us from unlawful imprisonment, were put in place to benefit a man who clearly deserved all of the imprisonment (unlawful or otherwise) that came his way. But that would also be a pretty shitty ending to this tale. Unfortunately for Ernesto Miranda, he was about to learn that irony is a dish best served with a crispy side order of karma.

Failing to learn any lessons from the earlier episode, Miranda went straight back to living like a criminal, supplementing his crime income by selling autographed Miranda rights cards for $1.50 each. That cocky approach to having your life saved by a technicality didn't carry Miranda too far, though.

During a $2 card game at La Amapola Bar in Phoenix, a knife fight broke out. While bringing a knife to a gunfight is never advised, it's generally accepted practice that you should at least have one during a knife fight. Ernesto Miranda did not. During a melee involving two men, he was fatally stabbed. The man who handed Ernesto Miranda's killer the murder weapon was arrested, but, thanks to Miranda's legal maneuvering a decade earlier, he knew full well that he was under no obligation to speak to authorities about anything. He kept his mouth shut long enough for the man who inflicted the fatal blows to escape to Mexico, never to be seen again.

The man who killed Ernesto Miranda beat the system because his accomplice invoked his Miranda rights.



The message here? Don't rape people. If you do, we get to laugh at the hilarious way you die. That's also how justice works.

*note* I find it interesting even way back in the early 80s with my arrest to a open container (which at that time was $35.50.. and shit who knows what the hell it is now.. has to be 3 - 400$) I was never given my Miranda Rights and when I told the lawyer and judge.. they didnt give a shit.. therefore it should of been thrown out... but they didnt think so...

So Ive been paying attention between that time up '98 where I lived (7 floor apartment building) and pretty much hung out the guards whenever I was down on ground floor and asked every single person who was lead out by officers (like once a month or so... so it happens) if they were even given their Miranda Rights.. they said no.. I found that extremely odd..

I dont know about where you guys live(d) in the states but has anybody even noticed this..? Was this a work of fiction just like getting one phone call a product of television that doesnt apply in real life.? I asked a cop about this at that time and he replied that they dont have to read you your rights...

WTF.?!?!?!?!?!

I know NOW its completely irreverent with having no rights in any way, shape or form, but when did this become irreverent.. guessing AFTER 1995 and the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing and then the signing of the patriot act.

But I found this.. it should mandatory no matter what.. the second they place the cuff on you, it the next thing that should happen... but as you can see cops dont have to go that extra mile to inform you of anything at all...

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[WillEase666 Profile]

This 'Cracked' me up.