Phoenix confidential: Miranda

In our cultural memory, Ernesto Miranda was railroaded into a false confession by a thuggish and racist Phoenix Police Department. The wrong was rectified by the Supreme Court in the landmark Miranda v. Arizona lawsuit. This resulted in the Miranda Warning, especially its demand that suspects be told that they have the right to remain silent. Anyone who has watched cop shows, from Adam 12 to Law and Order knows it by heart.

The truth is far different — and more fascinating.

Miranda, who went by Ernie, was born in Mesa and mingled easily in the Anglo-dominated Phoenix of the early 1960s. His boss at United Produce in the Warehouse District praised his work ethic. All his brothers joined the armed forces, served honorably, and lived successful lives. But Ernie was in trouble in his teens, doing two stints at Fort Grant, once synonymous with the state Industrial School for Wayward Boys and Girls. In the 19th century, Billy the Kid worked as a ranch hand nearby for a time. Ernie joined the Army but was dishonorably discharged.

The cause was being AWOL multiple times — but also for being a peeping Tom. Miranda rationalized it to himself that the women wouldn't leave their curtains open unless they wanted to be watched. This compulsion — especially after he arrived back in Phoenix after a troubled wandering around the country — would turn him into a hard-core rapist (one crime as a teen had been "assault with intent to commit rape”).

A little after midnight on March 3rd, 1963, Miranda forced 18-year-old Maggie Fair into his 1953 Packard on a dark block of Marlette Avenue, just east of Seventh Street and south of Maryland. He threatened her with a knife, drove her into the desert and raped her. Later, he released her and she ran to her sister's house.

Ernie Miranda was six days away from his 22nd birthday.

He planned the crime meticulously. He had noticed pretty Maggie Fair before, who worked late at the Paramount Theater (now the Orpheum), took the city bus home on Seventh Street with a friend, then walked along a quiet, unlit residential street. This night he was waiting for her. Miranda had attempted the same on at least two other women, who were able to escape with "only" being robbed of their few dollars. His hunting ground focused on downtown Phoenix, which was still the business and shopping center of the Southwest. Plenty of women leaving work walked alone at night — sometimes enduring wolf whistles from men who followed them.

The Phoenix Police entered the Fair case immediately, summoned by Maggie's sister, Sue Williamson. One of the many compelling elements of Mirandized Nation, a book by PPD Detective Timothy Moore and writer Clark Lohr, is its examination of the department in the early 1960s. This was the high-water-mark of reforming police Chief Charlie Thomas, brought in to clean up a notoriously corrupt institution. The department had become advanced by many standards. Multiple detectives worked the Fair case diligently and intensely.

Yet it was also backward by later standards. Maggie had been warned by her sister not to resist a rapist, to avoid being beaten or killed. But the cops wondered if the young woman was making the event up to cover a consensual act. She couldn't describe her alleged assailant well and doctors who examined her said she didn't appear to have been a virgin, as she claimed. Police asked her to take a polygraph and she did. Some who knew her told officers she was "slow." The polygraph operator remarked on her "low IQ."

But detectives in the Crimes Against Persons unit saw similarities between the Fair case and two other attempted abductions downtown. Then Fair's brother-in-law, just out of the Marines, was waiting to walk Maggie home one night a week after the attack — when he saw a suspicious car. It drove off, but he got a partial plate.

On March 13th, the information and more digging brought Detectives Carroll Cooley and Bill Young to 2525 W. Mariposa Street, where Miranda has recently moved from Mesa with his girlfriend Twila Hoffman and three children. The Packard was in the driveway. Cooley noticed a rope tied around the front passenger-seat back, one detail Maggie Fair did remember. Ernie was home. He agreed to come downtown and talk to the detectives. Young said, "You know, you don't have to talk to us if you don't want to." (my emphasis)

Miranda was identified by his victims — back then, in addition to a lineup, they had to walk into the interrogation room and face them. ("You were very brave," Cooley consoled Fair). He confessed and wrote a statement on a standard PPD form. Among other things, he had to sign that he made the confession without coercion or threats and "with full knowledge of my legal rights." Although unable to afford an attorney, the county appointed Alvin Moore, a well-regarded criminal lawyer to defend Miranda. He was convicted and sentenced to 20 to 30 years prison. The state Supreme Court upheld the verdict.

Enter the ACLU, which was looking for test cases regarding arrested suspects' rights. With the pro bono firepower of the legendary John P. Frank and John Flynn, Miranda's case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, bundled with three others. The contention: That Miranda had been deprived of his constitutional rights, specifically not having a lawyer present during his interrogation. Others had not been warned against self-incrimination.

The Miranda decision came down in June 1966. It was sharply divided, 5-4, but the liberal Warren court decided that Miranda had been deprived of his rights. He was freed, although quickly convicted in a new trial, even with the excluded confession. But the decision was one of the most consequential of the 20th century. Also one of the most controversial: The majority wrote new constitutional law — the Constitution never guaranteed counsel during interrogation, only during trial. One can argue the Constitution is a living document and Miranda is a good decision, even if some heinous individual cases were dismissed. But it also was one of the energizing moments for the conservative movement.

Ernie was out of prison and back in the Deuce on the afternoon of January 31st, 1976. One source of income: Selling signed Miranda warning cards for a dollar. He was drinking and cheating at cards at La Amapola bar, Second Street and Madison.

The area had changed. The Deuce has been reduced by the opening of the Civic Plaza and "urban renewal" teardowns, although many of the taverns and single-room occupancy hotels remained. The Warehouse District was losing business, especially as the railroads lost produce hauling to trucks, sprawl paved over fertile farmland, and the venerable citrus and vegetable purveyors closed. When his gambling mates realized he was cheating, a fight broke out. Miranda was stabbed multiple times and died at Good Samaritan Hospital. He was 34.

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My book, A Brief History of Phoenix, is available to buy or order at your local independent bookstore, or from Amazon.

Read more Phoenix history in Rogue's Phoenix 101 archive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Mark in Scottsdale]

Thank you for this clear and even-handed portrayal of this most famous of cases and names.

I don't know the corresponding timing but these sorts of warnings are common in many nations and I wonder if Miranda was a pace-setter for the rest of the world, or if we were catching up to what some other nations were already doing?

Also, thank you for the Adam-12 reference. One of my very favorite shows. I've seen each episode two or three times. I'd probably re-watch it more often if my wife didn't tired of seeing the same thing over and over again!

[Jon7190]

Great article! I never knew most of that. Very little of what I read about the Warren court is encouraging to me, this included.

I love Adam-12 too! Also Emergency!, of course. Adam-12 was simultaneously realistic and idealized. If the job were really like that, I could see myself being a cop. Emergency! is also idealized, but as someone currently with a job description very similar to Roy Desoto's, I can say that it is still one of the most realistic firefighting/ems shows ever and vastly more so than the current ones.

[soleri]

I grew up knowing who Arizona lawyers were because my father spent a lot of time with them, usually defending himself in lawsuits and few times in criminal complaints from the government. He was represented by Herb Finn, a lawyer instrumental in desegregating Phoenix schools, and John Flynn, the state's premier criminal defense lawyer, at different points in his life. If Arizona has a liberal tradition, it's in law. John Frank, the dean of Arizona's legal community, was probably the most powerful private citizen in the state for years. His wife, Lorraine, was a Democratic National Committeewoman and liberal stalwart.

Janet Napolitano came to Frank's law firm, Lewis and Roca, through the recommendation of 9th Circuit Judge Mary Schroeder, who she clerked for after graduating law school. Frank made her a partner within a few short years. She made her first national impression representing Anita Hill in the Clarence Thomas hearings. Bill Clinton appointed her US Attorney, a platform that became the foundation of her political career. One of her assistants as US Attorney was Mary Murguia who now sits on the 9th Court. Governor Napolitano also appointed Andrew Hurwitz, once Bruce Babbitt's Chief of Staff, to the Arizona Supreme Court. Later, Barack Obama appointed him to the 9th Court.

It's easy to forget how progressive Arizona once was. John Frank and John Flynn made history not as obscure lawyers from some provincial backwater but as nationally-known attorneys. They made life fairer for people without power and money. If you're a right-winger, you will hate them for that reason.

[Joe Schallan]

Thanks, soleri, for this.

I remember reading about John Flynn. He was much in the news in the 60s. Knowledge of his defensive skills percolated through news stories down to the masses: My mom used to remark that if you were a woman who had killed an abusive husband, you should get Flynn.

Arizona does indeed have a forgotten liberal tradition, going back to our efforts to attain statehood, which was delayed by Arizona's insistence on having a constitutional provision allowing recall of judges by the people. Only when the delegates to our constitutional convention dropped that were we admitted to the Union by the pen of William Howard Taft, who had vehemently opposed recall of judges.

Once in the Union, we put the provision back in.

Arizona's first governor George W.P. Hunt was a great progressive leader. Today, many people only know the image of a walrus-mustachioed, bald-pated, antique fellow in a white suit, but what has been forgotten is that he was a skilled politician and leader and a champion for causes such as the right to vote for women. (Arizona was national leader in this.)

We were a progressive state until World War II, after which hoards of Republicans from Indiana and like-minded places descended upon us. (Our leading newspaper was purchased by Indianans.)

And so now Arizona finds itself tossed into the same bucket as the benighted South, sick unto death with resentment, race hatred, guns, and religion.

This was not always the case.

[Rogue Columnist]

Phoenix and Arizona produced some nationally consequential lawyers, Frank and Flynn among them.

It was very controversial when Gov. Ernest McFarland replaced Frank and Theodore Kiendl with Mark Wilmer and Charlie Reed on Arizona v. California. But Mac, a Stanford-trained lawyer himself, was correct. Wilmer and Reed pursued a novel strategy and won. Of course, some of us wish in retrospect the CAP had never happened.

And Phoenix produced its share of mob lawyers, too.

Arizona entered the union as a Progressive and Democratic Party state. One element of this was creation of a Corporation Commission to regulate railroads and other monopolies (now it's captured). The state Constitution is full of Progressive nostrums, such as the popular referendum.

The Progressive era had players in both parties, e.g. Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. But in many places, it also coexisted with white supremacy — something critics decried at the time. Wilson, the first Southern-born President since the Civil War, segregated the civil service and ousted black postmasters and other officials appointed by TR and Taft.

As a Western and Southern state, Arizona stayed in the Democratic camp through the 1940s. Sometimes its delegation voted with Southern segregationists. The union movement was strong. The New Deal saved Phoenix. Barry Goldwater's 1952 victory was a harbinger of the Midwest migration. But the transformation was slow. Arizona was competitive into the 1990s.

[Chuck Albertson]

I remember that one of the first local judges to actually apply the Miranda decision (and dismiss a charge due to a tainted confession) was Thomas Tang, who later went on to long and distinguished service on the Ninth Circuit. His decision drew an angry mob outside his residence that night. I don't recall if they were carrying torches, but it was a pretty scary event.

[Cal Lash]

Good article Jon. I was not present nor have I read the complete police report on the sexual assault report of Ms. Fair by Miranda.

There are two issues here; One, The interrogation and subsequent confession by Miranda that appears to be voluntarily given.

Two, the decision by the Supreme Court to instruct law enforcement to advise “suspects” of their rights. Based on what knowledge I have available I think Miranda was a poor choice by the ACLU. Historically there were many more grievous cases of confessions given where subjects did not have a clue about their rights.

However Miranda had the firepower of the greatly respected constitutional and civil rights and defense attorney, John P Frank (http://articles.latimes.com/2002/sep/12/local/me-frank12) and the town’s best criminal defense attorney, John Flynn, a legend in his time. (http://www.myazbar.org/AZAttorney/PDF_Articles/0905Flynn.pdf)
Flynn knew all the shakers and rollers and the politicians. He was the guy you went to when you needed to make a deal. And he provided legal counsel in at least 125 Murder cases (In my opinion Flynn had a clone that became a cop and then an attorney. He is still out there if you need a deal.)

I think the best history of crime and police work and politicians and corruption are contained in Talton’s novels. I started reading them because to me they were factual history woven into a novel. If you dug all the facts out of those novels you would have an 800 page history of Maricopa County Chit.

On the night Miranda bleed to death on the dirt floor of the Amapola Bar, I was there as a Night Detective. I wrote about 12 pages that night, and identified and indexed one of the suspects. A few years ago, maybe 7, I was contacted by the police and asked if I was available to testify. It seems that a warrant was never issued for one of the suspects and for years he had be coming back and forth from Mexico. I said I was available. I never heard back again.

Good cops easily adjusted to the court’s ruling and kept on putting bad folks in prison. I never had a problem with reading, “suspects” their rights. Many of my successful interrogations almost always started with the rights caution and then, “would you like some coffee and a cigarette?”

Footnote, when I worked Bank Robberies with the FBI they were not impressed by my giving coffee and cigarettes to suspects. And it was not unusual for some AIC to admonish me for smoking in the federal interrogation rooms. But I got the confessions they didn’t get.

PS, I never watched Adam 12 I prefer Oceans 11.

[Jerry]

Enjoyed the article and the excellent responses.

[Cal Lash]

Note update:
The Attorney that succeeded John Flynn was first a cop.
He died on 15 August 2021.