Ernesto Miranda was born on March 9, 1941 in Mesa, Arizona.  He dropped out of school in the eighth grade, and soon after that he started getting into trouble.  In 1963, he was arrested for armed robbery of a bank coworker.  He already had a criminal record, which included assault, rape, and burglary. At the time of his armed robbery confession, he also confessed to the rape of an 18 year old girl, 11 days before his robbery arrest.   When he signed his confession statement, it had a paragraph at the top that stated, “With full knowledge of my legal rights, understanding any statement I make may be used against me”.

At the trial, they determined that Miranda was not told that he didn’t have to talk to the police, or that anything he said could be used against him. Without knowing it, Miranda had protected himself from self-incrimination.  The conviction was overthrown.  After his case was over, he ended up only having to serve 11 years, instead of the original 20-30 for each conviction. In 1966 the court established the Miranda Rights. If the accused does not have his Miranda rights read to him, nothing he says can be used against him as evidence, or a confession. 

Miranda got out of jail on parole in 1972, and died on January 31st, 1976, at the age of 34.  He died after being stabbed in a bar fight.  The suspect in his murder case chose to stay silent after his Miranda rights were read to him, and was released.