Knowing and Intelligent: A Study of Miranda Warnings in Mentally ...

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Richard RogersEmail author; Kimberly S. Harrison; Lisa L. Hazelwood ... While affirming the basic components of the Miranda warning, the Supreme Court ...
Law Hum Behav (2007) 31:401–418 DOI 10.1007/s10979-006-9070-8 ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Knowing and Intelligent: A Study of Miranda Warnings in Mentally Disordered Defendants Richard Rogers · Kimberly S. Harrison · Lisa L. Hazelwood · Kenneth W. Sewell

Published online: 24 January 2007  C American Psychology-Law Society/Division 41 of the American Psychological Association 2007

Abstract A conservative estimate is that 695,000 mentally disordered offenders are arrested and Mirandized annually in the United States. Past research has focused almost exclusively on cognitive factors affecting the comprehension of Miranda rights. The current study broadens the scope by including diagnostic variables and by extending the investigation to basic elements of Miranda reasoning. A sample of 107 mentally disordered defendants was administered two research measures, the Miranda Statements Scale (MSS) and Miranda Rights Scale (MRS), in addition to standardized tests. Most defendants lacked good comprehension of all but the simplest (Flesch-Kincaid