Custodial Interrogation
Definition
Questioning by police of a person who is in custody, meaning their freedom of movement is restrained in a way a reasonable person would not feel free to end. Miranda warnings are required before custodial interrogation; they are not required for voluntary conversations or non-custodial questioning.
- Trigger
- Freedom of movement restrained, reasonable person test
- Required safeguard
- Miranda warnings (US)
- Not required for
- Voluntary or non-custodial questioning
- Leading case
- Miranda v. Arizona, 1966
Common questions
Does being questioned at a police station automatically make an interrogation custodial?+
Not by itself. Courts look at whether a reasonable person in that situation would feel free to leave, so a suspect who voluntarily comes in, is told they can go, and is not physically restrained may not be in custody even at a station house.
What happens to a confession obtained without the required warning during custodial interrogation?+
In jurisdictions that follow the Miranda rule, the statement is generally inadmissible in the prosecution's case in chief, though it may still be usable for limited purposes such as impeachment depending on the jurisdiction.
Related terms
- Cognitive Demand
- The mental processing load a text or statement places on the reader or listener. High cognitive demand reduces accurate comprehension, particularly under...
- Comprehension Assessment
- In the Miranda context, structured testing of a suspect's understanding of each element of the warning, using instruments such as Grisso's Instruments...
- Miranda Warning
- The statement of rights that US police must deliver to a suspect before custodial interrogation, required by the Supreme Court's 1966 decision...
- PACE Caution
- The rights caution used by police in England and Wales under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (as amended): 'You do...
- Waiver
- The voluntary, knowing, and intelligent relinquishment of a known right. A valid Miranda waiver requires the suspect to understand the rights and...