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Missouri v. Seibert

Supreme Court of the United States · 2004 · Criminal Procedure

Criminal ProcedureFifth AmendmentMirandatwo-step interrogationcustodial interrogationMirandaquestion-firsttwo-step interrogation

Facts

Police arrested Seibert and, following instructions not to give Miranda warnings, questioned her at the station for 30 to 40 minutes until she admitted she knew Donald was meant to die in the fire. After a 20-minute break, the same officer gave Miranda warnings, obtained a waiver, and resumed questioning by referring back to their earlier discussion and confronting her with her prewarning statements. The officer testified that he made a conscious decision to withhold warnings as part of a technique he had been taught: question first, then warn, then repeat the questions until he got the same answer again. Seibert's warned statement was largely a repeat of the information obtained before the warnings.

Issue

Whether a postwarning confession is admissible when police deliberately withhold Miranda warnings during custodial interrogation, obtain a confession, then give Miranda warnings midstream and immediately lead the suspect through the same subject matter again. Put differently, can warnings given after a successful first round of interrogation function effectively enough to satisfy Miranda?

Rule

When police employ a question-first, warn-later interrogation in which unwarned and warned questioning are close in time, similar in content, and part of a continuous interrogation, a postwarning statement is inadmissible if the midstream Miranda warnings could not reasonably be effective in advising the suspect of a real choice whether to speak. In assessing effectiveness, relevant facts include the completeness and detail of the first interrogation, the overlap between the two statements, the timing and setting of both rounds, the continuity of police personnel, and the extent to which the second round is treated as continuous with the first.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

In Phoenix, detectives took Luis Navarro into custody for an arson investigation and questioned him in an interview room for 50 minutes without giving Miranda warnings. After Luis gave a detailed account of how he bought fuel and set the fire, the same detective left for 10 minutes, returned to the same room, read Miranda warnings, obtained a waiver, and asked Luis to go back through "what you already told me" step by step.

Is Luis's postwarning statement most likely admissible in the prosecution's case-in-chief?

Explanation. The warned statement is most likely inadmissible. The governing question is whether midstream warnings could reasonably function effectively to give the suspect a real choice whether to speak. Relevant factors include the completeness of the first interrogation, overlap between the two rounds, timing and setting, continuity of personnel, and whether the second round was treated as continuous with the first. Here, the first round produced a detailed confession; the break was brief; the location and officer were the same; and the detective explicitly asked Luis to repeat what he had already said. Under those circumstances, the warnings would not effectively convey a genuine choice to remain silent. (Derived from Missouri v. Seibert (2004).)