Miranda Rights and City of Mesa Cemetery
The arrest and conviction of Ernesto Miranda, as well as the subsequent overturning of that conviction on appeal, introduced the nation to “Miranda Rights.” Buried in the City of Mesa Cemetery on Center and Brown. Ernesto Arturo Miranda was born March 9, 1941 in Columbus, Arizona. Miranda died January 31, 1976 at age 34; he was murdered during an argument at a bar in Phoenix. Miranda died in the ambulance on the way to the Good Samaritan hospital.
Miranda was arrested in 1963 on suspicion of kidnapping and rape. He was subsequently convicted for these crimes after he confessed. Miranda was questioned by the police for several hours and signed his confession. However, he was neither told of his right against self incrimination nor against having legal counsel, as was customary in the era. Miranda's state-provided lawyer filed an appeal after the conviction. He was eventually released because the United State Supreme Court ruled that the police violated his rights under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments were violated.
The phrase Miranda Rights has become synonymous in popular culture with criminals "being read their rights." The legal framework of the Miranda decision continues to evolve with further litigation, most recently in a 2010 decision before the U.S. Supreme Court.
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