Pg 26

Question 1

What is interrogation as a part of Miranda?

Answer 1

Express questioning or words/actions that are the functional equivalent of an interrogation that a reasonable cop would know were likely to elicit an incriminating response.

Question 2

Does Miranda apply to routine booking questions?

Answer 2

No, it only applies to testimonial evidence.

Question 3

Does Miranda apply to things from the suspect that are incriminating such as blood, hair, DNA, lineups, putting on gloves in front of a jury, etc?

Answer 3

No, because it only applies to testimonial evidence

Question 4

Once a suspect is in custody, what do the police have to do before they can interrogate?

Answer 4

They must give a Miranda warning

Question 5

Does interrogation have to involve direct questioning?

Answer 5

No, words and actions that are likely to elicit an incriminating response are enough

Question 6

What is essentially an interrogation?

Answer 6

A police dominated atmosphere that essentially forces the suspect to give into the desires of the interrogator

Question 7

Is silence by a police officer that is not likely to elicit an incriminating response likely to be considered an interrogation?

Answer 7

No

Question 8

If the police arrested a suspect who asked why and the police officer didn’t answer, then the suspect volunteered an incriminating statement, would the police officer’s silence be considered an interrogation?

Answer 8

No

Question 9

If the police were aware of a particular vulnerability of a suspect and they exploited it through tricky questioning, is that considered to be an interrogation?

Answer 9

Their knowledge is imputed to a reasonable officer’s knowledge to decide if an interrogation has occurred

Question 10

If police were talking in front of a defendant about a handicapped school and a gun, and they had no reason to think that the defendant would care about children, would that be considered to be interrogation?

Answer 10

No

Question 11

If police were talking in front of a defendant about a handicapped school and gun and they knew that the defendant’s child went to that school, what happens to that knowledge of the defendant’s vulnerability?

Answer 11

It is imputed to a reasonable cop

Question 12

When is the only time that police intent is relevant to determine if an interrogation has occurred?

Answer 12

To show that the police knew or should have known that their words and actions were likely to evoke an incriminating response. Otherwise the suspect’s perception is all that matters

Question 13

What is the reasoning for a jail plant not triggering Miranda if the suspect doesn’t know that the person questioning him is a cop?

Answer 13

Because there is no inherent coercion here

Question 14

How is coercion determined for Miranda?

Answer 14

From the perspective of the suspect, so if he thinks that he is talking to a cellmate and not to a jail plant, there is no coercion

Question 15

Why are routine booking questions exempt from Miranda?

Answer 15

Because they only secure biographical information that is needed to complete the booking and the questions are reasonably related to the cop’s administrative concerns

Question 16

What are the two important limits on interrogation for Miranda?

Answer 16

– due process voluntariness doctrine

– sixth amendment right to counsel

Question 17

What is the functional equivalent test for Miranda?

Answer 17

This prohibits all speech or conduct that is the functional equivalent of direct questioning. This is words or actions of police beyond those normally attendant to arrest or custody they should know are reasonably likely to elicit incriminating responses from the defendant. If there is no express questioning, consider whether what was said amounts to its functional equivalent

Question 18

If a defendant is arrested for killing a taxi driver, is mirandized, and asks to speak to an attorney, if he was then put in a police car with three cops and driven to the station, and while driving the cops discussed that a handicapped kid might find a gun, what are the two types of the functional equivalent test?

Answer 18

– Innis Majority: the intent of the police officers is only relevant to show if they should have known that their words or actions were reasonably likely to get an incriminating response. It is not an interrogation because they didn’t have any reason to know that it would elicit an incriminating response. The focus is on the perceptions of the suspect, not the intent of the police. Although if the police have knowledge of unusual susceptibility of the defendant to a particular type of persuasion, that is an important factor to see if they should have known that their words or actions were reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response
– Stevens Dissent: interrogation includes any cop statement or conduct that has the same purpose or effect as direct questions

Question 19

What is the objective observer test for Miranda?

Answer 19

If an objective observer with the same knowledge as the suspect would, just by hearing the cop’s remarks, infer that it was designed to get an incriminating response, that is an interrogation.

Question 20

If a defendant is arrested for drunk driving and he’s asked basic booking questions but his answers are so slurred that it showed he was drunk, would that be suppressed for the person not having been mirandized first?

Answer 20

No, because Miranda rules don’t apply to incriminating responses that are not testimonial. Here the slurred speech and lack of coordination is a non-testimonial part of the response

Question 21

How do you know if an incriminating response is testimonial so that Miranda applies?

Answer 21

If the suspect is asked for a response that requires an express or implied assertion of fact or belief, his answers are testimonial.

Question 22

If police officers arrived to the scene of a crime and ask someone what happened, is that a testimonial response?

Answer 22

No because answers to those kinds of things are essentially volunteered and not the result of custodial interrogation

Question 23

If police use physical evidence or make accusations or use confessions of an accomplice, is that considered to be an interrogation?

Answer 23

Yes

Question 24

If police put two suspects into the same room and then listen to the conversation, is that considered to be an interrogation?

Answer 24

Yes

Question 25

If a defendant confesses after being identified in a lineup or after watching police discover physical evidence, is that a situation that triggers Miranda?

Answer 25

No, because it is not designed to get an incriminating response

Question 26

If the police are talking to each other in front of a defendant, is that an interrogation?

Answer 26

It depends on the situation. A Christian burial speech to a deeply religious man could be.

Question 27

Can police answer a suspect’s questions without there being an interrogation?

Answer 27

Yes

Question 28

If someone volunteers statements when the police didn’t stop that person and the person just called the station and confessed, is that an interrogation?

Answer 28

No

Question 29

Can police officers ask follow-up questions without it being an interrogation?

Answer 29

Only if it just involves neutral efforts to clarify what was said and not to expand on the voluntary statement.

Question 30

If a defendant is in custody and he hasn’t gotten Miranda warnings, is it a violation if he volunteers revelations of criminal conduct unrelated to the crime he’s under arrest for?

Answer 30

No

Question 31

Once police officers advise a custodial suspect of Miranda rights and he hasn’t asserted them, do they have to get a waiver before they can interrogate him?

Answer 31

No

Question 32

If a suspect has gotten and understood his Miranda rights and chooses to make an uncoerced statement to the police, what has happened?

Answer 32

He has waived his right to remain silent

Question 33

If a cop falsely tells a suspect that his associate just confessed and says that the suspect is the triggerman in a murder, is that an interrogation?

Answer 33

Yes. Because this is false, there is no innocent reason for the cop to be saying this unless he is trying to get an incriminating statement.

Question 34

What is a Christian burial speech?

Answer 34

A speech that is directed at a defendant when the cops have knowledge that the defendant has religious tendencies, and this is intended to elicit an incriminating response, so it is an interrogation

Question 35

What are some examples of things that are likely not considered to be interrogations?

Answer 35

• when the cops truthfully tell the suspect in jail that they found his prints at a crime scene. In this case they are just updating the suspect on the investigation
  – if the suspect asks the cops what they would do in that situation and the cops say “we would come clean“ that is also not an interrogation because the suspect initiated the conversation and the cop just answered honestly

Question 36

What is the public safety exception with regard to Miranda?

Answer 36

The suspect can be in custody and be questioned if it is protecting the police or others in the area from imminent public danger. There has to be objective evidence that the primary motivation is protective, that the questions are spontaneous, and then Miranda is not triggered. This allows a police officer to ask questions that are reasonably prompted by concern for public safety without regard to his motivation

Question 37

If a defendant throws a gun in a grocery store into boxes and the police find him and they need to locate the gun before an accomplice or an innocent person finds it, their need for answers has to do what in order for them to ask him about it without it being an interrogation?

Answer 37

Pose a threat to public safety that outweighs the need for the protections of the fifth amendment