ABSTRACT
The Miranda warnings must be given whenever there is a “custodial interrogation.” Custodial means that the person is under arrest or is deprived of freedom in a significant way. Interrogation means that the suspect is asked questions by the police that tend to link the suspect to a crime. There are instances in which the police must give the Miranda warnings even if no actual interrogation or questioning takes place. The case that set this rule is Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387 (1977). In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that the police must give the Miranda warnings even if no questioning takes place if the behavior of the police constitutes the functional equivalent of an interrogation, meaning that the behavior is likely to elicit a confession even in the absence of questioning. In Brewer, the officers gave the suspect the “Christian burial” speech in which the officer called the suspect “Reverend” and indicated that the parents of the missing girl ought to have the opportunity to give a Christian burial for their child, who had been kidnapped on Christmas Eve. The suspect then confessed. The Court reasoned that, although there was no actual interrogation, the police officers’ behavior amounted to the “functional equivalent” of an interrogation because it was likely to elicit a confession.
