from Chapter 1

Crimes, Confessions and Convictions

Except from pages 6 and 7

When they arrived at the station, Cooley escorted his suspect into Interrogation Room Number Two. Aptly named the “sweat room,” Number Two was a twelve-foot-square cubicle with pale green walls, fluorescent tubes set into acoustic tile overhead, and a two-way mirror in the door for viewing lineups. Miranda’s interview began at approximately 10:30 a.m. Without hesitating, Cooley and Young confronted Miranda with selective facts of Patricia Doe’s rape. Miranda denied any involvement and said he was at work the night Patricia was abducted. When they asked him about Barbara Doe’s robbery, he denied any knowledge or participation. Cooley then asked Miranda to stand in a lineup for the victims of both crimes, telling him they would take him home as soon as the victims cleared him. Cooley later freely admitted to misleading Miranda about his knowledge of the crimes under investigation but noted that the cordial, sympathetic approach he used in talking to Miranda helped establish a rapport with the suspect. Besides, it was common for officers to engage in a certain amount of deception. Good detectives, for instance, usually implied that they knew more about a case than they actually did.

Unfortunately, although Patricia and Barbara both thought number one (Miranda) looked like the man, they couldn’t be positive. “I was somewhat dejected and frustrated,” Cooley recalled in his later account, and, unsure what approach to use next, he returned to the interview room where Miranda waited alone. Noting the gravity of the officer’s demeanor, Miranda shifted uneasily in his chair and asked, “How did I do?”

“Not too good, Ernie,” replied Cooley, noticing Miranda’s concern.

“They identified me then?” Miranda asked.

“Yes, Ernie, they did,” Cooley replied gravely.

“Well,” said Miranda resignedly, “I guess I’d better tell you about it then.”

Somewhat surprised, Cooley gave Miranda a copy of the standard statement form, having already filled in the top four lines:

SUBJECT: Rape DR 63-08380
STATEMENT OF: Ernest Arthur Miranda
TAKEN BY: C. Cooley #413-W. Young #182
DATE: 3-13-63; TIME: 1:30 p.m.
PLACE TAKEN: Interr Rm #2.

At the top of this standard form was a paragraph that read:
I, _______________, do hereby swear that I make this statement voluntarily and of my own free will, with no threats, coercion, or promises of immunity, and with full knowledge of my legal rights, understanding any statement can be used against me. I, _____________, am _____ years of age and have completed the ________ grade in school.

Miranda wrote his name, recorded his age as twenty-three, and the grade completed as eighth. Then, in the provided space below, he wrote:

Seen a girl walking up street stopped a little ahead of her got out of car walked towards her grabbed her by the arm and asked to get in car. Got in car without force tied hands and ankles. Drove away for a few mile. Stopped asked to take clothes off. Did not, asked me to take her back home. I started to take clothes off her without any force and with cooperation. Asked her to lay down and she did. Could not get penis into vagina got about 1/2 (half) inch in. Told her to get clothes back on. Drove her home. I couldn’t say I was sorry for what I had done but asked her to pray for me.

When he’d finished, Miranda signed the form again at the bottom, beneath the statement: “I have read and understand the foregoing statement and hereby swear to its truthfulness.” Detectives Cooley and Young signed the document as witnesses.

Miranda also confessed, although not in writing, to robbing Barbara Doe in November 1962 and admitted attempting to rob Sylvia Doe in February 1963. Cooley, not wanting to risk jeopardizing Miranda’s successful prosecution in the rape case by opening his written confession to attack because of the mention of other, unrelated crimes,” did not ask Miranda for a written confession in these other two cases. After Miranda signed his handwritten confession, Cooley brought Patricia Doe into Interrogation Room Number Two, and Cooley asked Miranda to state his name. Miranda did so and, in Patricia’s presence, told Cooley and Young that he recognized her. “She’s the one I was talking about,” he said. Patricia later remembered that he said, “She’s the one.” Barbara Doe was then led into the interrogation room, and in her presence Miranda told Cooley and Young that he recognized her as well. Both young women later testified that based on this interaction they were “sure” he was the man who had accosted them.