Opinion ID: 2323489
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Sufficiency of the Miranda Warnings

Text: Defendant contends that the Superior Court justice, who denied his motion to suppress all statements he had made to the police, was clearly in error in finding that the police had complied with the requirements of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). The issue arises only because on the three successive occasions when the police officer, before questioning defendant, read the Miranda rights from his  Miranda card, he omitted the final question on the card, Now having all the rights in mind, which I just explained to you, do you wish to answer questions at this time? That omission, however, was not fatal to the prosecution's use at trial of the statements that defendant made after being fully advised of his right to remain silent and to have counsel. The Miranda case does not require that the specific final question be asked; it only requires, before a person is put under custodial interrogation, that he be fully informed of the rights delineated in Miranda and that he knowingly waive those rights. An explicit oral or written statement of waiver is not required. North Carolina v. Butler, 441 U.S. 369, 373, 375-76, 99 S.Ct. 1755, 1757, 1758-59, 60 L.Ed.2d 286 (1979); State v. Hazelton, 330 A.2d 919, 925 (Me.1975). Whether there has in fact been a waiver of Miranda rights must be decided upon the facts of each case. See State v. Carter, 412 A.2d 56, 61 n. 4 (Me.1980). At the suppression hearing the State had the burden of proving, by the federal standard of proof by a preponderance, that the police complied with Miranda's mandates. State v. Bleyl, 435 A.2d 1349, 1358 (Me.1981). The police read defendant his Miranda rights three times before starting their questioning; he affirmed that he understood each right; he consented to the taping of the interview; and he responded without hesitation to the questions. After reviewing all the evidence before the motion justice, we cannot find any clear error in his factual conclusion that the State had met its burden of showing that the police had satisfied Miranda.