Court Opinion

ID: 9426652
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:18:35.879572+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:02.177680
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Marshall,
dissenting.
The respondent in this case was interrogated behind closed doors at police headquarters in connection with a burglary investigation. He had been named by the victim of the burglary as a suspect, and was told by the police that they believed he was involved. He was falsely informed that his fingerprints had been found at the scene, and in effect was advised that by cooperating with the police he could help himself. Not until after he had confessed was he given the warnings set forth in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U. S. 436 (1966).
The Court today holds that for constitutional purposes all this is irrelevant because respondent had not “ 'been taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way.’ ” Ante, at 494, quoting Miranda v. Arizona, supra, at 444. I do not believe that such a determination is possible on the record before us. It is true that respondent was not formally placed under arrest, but surely formalities alone cannot control. At the very least, if respondent entertained an objectively reasonable belief that he was not free to leave during the questioning, then he was "deprived of his freedom of action in a significant way.” 1 *497Plainly the respondent could have so believed, after being told by the police that they thought he was involved in a burglary and that his fingerprints had been found at the scene. Yet the majority is content to note that “there is no indication that . . . respondent’s freedom to depart was restricted in any way,” ante, at 495, as if a silent record (and no state-court findings) means that the State has sustained its burden, see Lego v. Twomey, 404 U. S. 477, 489 (1972), of demonstrating that respondent received his constitutional due.2
More fundamentally, however, I cannot agree with the Court’s conclusion that if respondent were not in custody no warnings were required. I recognize that Miranda is limited to custodial interrogations, but that is because, as we noted last Term, the facts in the Miranda cases raised only this “narrow issue.” Beckwith v. United States, 425 U. S. 341, 345 (1976). The rationale of Miranda, however, is not so easily cabined.
Miranda requires warnings to “combat” a situation in which there are “inherently compelling pressures which work to undermine the individual’s will to resist and to compel *498him to speak where he would not ’otherwise do so freely.” 384 U. S., at 467. It is of course true, as the Court notes, that “[a]ny interview of one suspected of a crime by a police officer will have coercive aspects to it.” Ante, at 495. But it does not follow that because police “are not required to administer Miranda warnings to everyone whom they question,” ibid., that they need not administer warnings to anyone, unless the factual setting of the Miranda cases is replicated. Rather, faithfulness to Miranda requires us to distinguish situations that resemble the “coercive aspects”' of custodial interrogation from those that more nearly resemble “[g]eneral on-the-scene questioning ... or other general questioning of citizens in the fact-finding process” which Miranda states usually can take place without warnings. 384 U. S., at 477.
In my view, even if respondent were not in custody, the coercive elements in the instant case were so pervasive as to require Miranda-type warnings.3 Respondent was interrogated in “privacy” and in “unfamiliar surroundings,” factors on which Miranda places great stress. Id., at 449-450; see also Beckwith v. United States, supra, at 346 n. 7. The investigation had focused on respondent. And respondent was subjected to some of the “deceptive stratagems,” Miranda v. Arizona, supra, at 455, which called forth the Miranda decision. I therefore agree with the Oregon Supreme Court that to excuse the absence of warnings given these facts is “contrary to the rationale expressed in Miranda.” 275 Ore. 1, 5, 549 P. 2d 673, 675 (1976).4
*499The privilege against self-incrimination “has always been 'as broad as the mischief against which it seeks to guard.’ ” Miranda v. Arizona, supra, at 459-460, quoting Counselman v. Hitchcock, 142 U. S. 547, 562 (1892). Today’s decision means, however, that the Fifth Amendment privilege does not provide full protection against mischiefs equivalent to, but different from, custodial interrogation.5 See also Beck-with v. United States, supra. It is therefore important to note that the state courts remain free, in interpreting state constitutions, to guard against the evil clearly identified by this case.6
I respectfully dissent.

 See, e. g., United States v. Hall, 421 F. 2d 540, 544-545 (CA2 1969) *497(Friendly, J.); Lowe v. United States, 407 F. 2d 1391 (CA9 1969); People v. Arnold, 66 Cal. 2d 438, 426 P. 2d 515 (1967); People v. Rodney P., 21 N. Y. 2d 1, 233 N. E. 2d 255 (1967). See also eases collected in Annot., 31 A. L. R. 3d 565, 581-583 (1970 and Supp. 1976).
It has been noted that as a logical matter, a person who honestly but unreasonably believes he is in custody is subject to the same coercive pressures as one whose belief is reasonable; this suggests that such persons also are entitled to warnings. See, e. g., LaFave, “Street Encounters” and the Constitution: Terry, Sibron, Peters, and Beyond, 67 Mich. L. Rev. 39, 105 (1968); Smith, The Threshold Question in Applying Miranda: What Constitutes Custodial Interrogation?, 25 S. C. L. Rev. 699, 711-714 (1974).

 The Court’s action is particularly inappropriate because the record of this case has not been transmitted to us, and thus our knowledge of the facts is limited to the information contained in the petition and in the opinions of the state courts.

 I do not rule out the possibility that lesser warnings would suffice when a suspect is not in custody but is subjected to a highly coercive atmosphere. See, e. g., Beckwith v. United States, 425 U. S. 341, 348-349 (1976) (Marshall, J., concurring in judgment); ALI, Model Code of Pre-Arraignment Procedure § 110.1 (2) (Approved Draft 1975) (suspects interrogated at police station must be advised of their right to leave and right to consult with counsel, relatives, or friends).

 See also Graham, What is “Custodial Interrogation?”: California’s *499Anticipatory Application of Miranda v. Arizona, 14 UCLA L. Rev. 59, 81-82 (1966); Smith, supra, n. 1, at 732, 735.

 I trust today’s decision does not suggest that police officers can circumvent Miranda by deliberately postponing the official “arrest” and the giving of Miranda warnings until the necessary incriminating statements have been obtained.

 See, e. g., South Dakota v. Opperman, 428 U. S. 364, 384 (1976) (Marshall, J., dissenting); Baxter v. Palmigiano, 425 U. S. 308, 324, 338-339 (1976) (Brennan, J., dissenting); Michigan v. Mosley, 423 U. S. 96, 120-121 (1975) (Brennan, J., dissenting); Wilkes, The New Federalism in Criminal Procedure: State Court Evasion of the Burger Court, 62 Ky. L. J. 421 (1974); Wilkes, More on the New Federalism in Criminal Procedure, 63 Ky. L. J. 873 (1975).
In Opperman, this Court reversed a decision of the South Dakota Supreme Court holding that routine inventory searches of impounded automobiles, made without probable cause or consent, violated the Fourth Amendment. The case was remanded, like this one, “for further proceedings not inconsistent with [the] opinion.” 428 U. S., at 376. On remand, the South Dakota Supreme Court held that such searches violated a nearly identical provision of the State Constitution, and that therefore the seized evidence should have been suppressed. State v. Opperman, 89 S. D. —, 228 N. W. 2d 152 (1976).