The Fifth Amendment and Miranda warnings.

Assignment Details

This week we are studying the Fifth Amendment and Miranda warnings. Focus your discussion on the following tasks.

1. Review the following scenarios:  Scenario 1: Officers were transporting Bruce to the local police station after arresting him for murder of a 4-year-old girl. On the way to the station, Officers Polanski and Evans discussed that they both attended the same church as the family of the girl and that they were all devastated. Upon hearing this, Bruce started crying and confessed that he in fact had killed the girl, but that it was an accident. No Miranda warnings had been given to Bruce.
   Scenario 2: Officers asked Karen to come into the station to question her about some recent burglaries in her neighborhood. During the questioning, Karen revealed that she had been at the homes in question, and eventually confessed that she broke in to retaliate against her daughter’s school classmates, who were bullying her. No Miranda warnings had been given to Karen.
   Scenario 3: Walter was arrested for felony murder after he acted as a driver for the armed robbery of a local restaurant. His co-conspirator, Mark, accidentally shot and killed the restaurant owner during a scuffle. Officers read Walter his Miranda rights, and he stated that he wished to remain silent. Four hours later, a different officer questioned Walter again, this time about a different robbery of a dry cleaner in a neighboring town. This officer read Walter his Miranda warnings. After an hour of the officer’s questioning about the dry cleaner robbery, Walter eventually confessed to driving the getaway car in both robberies.
   Answer the following questions for each scenario:
   • Has a Fifth Amendment violation occurred?
   • If so, what remedy might be available for the violation?
2. Locate a case from your state where a court has addressed the Fifth Amendment and Miranda warnings.
   • How did the court address these warnings?