Opinion ID: 2423969
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Miranda's Procedural Safeguards

Text: In Miranda v. Arizona , the United States Supreme Court recognized that all custodial interrogations create compelling pressures which work to undermine the individual's will to resist and to compel him to speak where he would not otherwise do so freely. [10] To ameliorate those inherent pressures and safeguard the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, Miranda imposed on the police an obligation to follow certain procedures in their dealings with the accused. [11] As for the procedural safeguards to be employed, unless other fully effective means are devised to inform accused persons of their right of silence and to assure a continuous opportunity to exercise it, the following measures are required. Prior to any questioning, the person must be warned that he has a right to remain silent, that any statement he does make may be used as evidence against him, and that he has a right to the presence of an attorney, either retained or appointed. The defendant may waive effectuation of these rights, provided the waiver is made voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently. [12] The two-part test to determine whether a suspect has effectively waived his or her Fifth Amendment Miranda rights, set forth in Moran v. Burbine , [13] is stated as follows: First, the relinquishment of the right must have been voluntary in the sense that it was the product of a free and deliberate choice rather than intimidation, coercion, or deception. Second, the waiver must have been made with a full awareness of both the nature of the right being abandoned and the consequences of the decision to abandon it. Only if the totality of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation reveal both an uncoerced choice and the requisite level of comprehension may a court properly conclude that the Miranda rights have been waived. [14] When the admission of a custodial interrogation statement is challenged, the burden is on the State to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that the suspect's Miranda rights have been waived. [15]