Code of Criminal Procedure · U.S. Supreme Court, 1966

Miranda v. Arizona

Miranda v. Arizona is a 1966 U.S. Supreme Court decision. This page summarizes key points and works through practice questions for Texas peace officer exam preparation.

Key points

  • Custody — formal arrest or functional equivalent (would a reasonable person feel they were not free to leave to a degree associated with formal arrest?)
  • Interrogation — express questioning OR words/actions reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response
  • Both required to trigger Miranda

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Worked examples

Worked example 1

Miranda warnings are required when a person is subjected to:

  1. Any contact with police
  2. Custodial interrogation — both custody (formal arrest or its functional equivalent) AND interrogation (questioning, or its functional equivalent, that is reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response) Correct
  3. Booking
  4. Field sobriety testing
Why: Miranda is triggered by both custody and interrogation. Routine traffic-stop questioning is generally not custody for Miranda purposes (Berkemer v. McCarty). Booking questions ('pedigree') are generally exempt.
Statute: Miranda v. Arizona; Rhode Island v. Innis