Rhode Island v. Innis (1979)
- Docket
- 78-1076
- Decided
- 1979-01-01
Summary
Question: Did the police "interrogation" en route to the station violate Innis's Miranda rights? Conclusion: No. In a 6-to-3 decision, the Court held that the Miranda safeguards came into play "whenever a person in custody is subjected to either express questioning or its functional equivalent," noting that the term "interrogation" under Miranda included "any words or actions on the part of the police (other than those normally attendant to arrest and custody) that the police should know are reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response from the subject." The Court then found that the officers' conversation did not qualify as words or actions that they should have known were reasonably likely to elicit such a response from Innis.