Journal article
The Detrimental Impact of Alcohol Intoxication on Facets of Miranda Comprehension
Law and human behavior, v 46(4), pp 264-276
01 Aug 2022
PMID: 35878105
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Objective: Law enforcement officers often encounter alcohol-intoxicated suspects, suggesting that many suspects are presented with the challenge of grasping the meaning and significance of their Miranda rights while intoxicated. Such comprehension is crucial, given that Miranda is intended to minimize the likelihood of coercive interrogations resulting in self-incrimination and protect suspects' constitutional rights. Yet, the effects of alcohol on individuals' ability to understand and appreciate their Miranda rights remain unknown-a gap that the present study sought to address. Hypotheses: Informed by alcohol myopia theory (AMT), we predicted that intoxicated individuals would demonstrate impaired Miranda comprehension compared to sober individuals and those who believed they were intoxicated (but were in fact not; i.e., placebo participants). Method: After health screenings, participants completed the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence-Second Edition verbal subtests, rendering a Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) score. We randomly assigned participants to consume alcohol (n = 51; mean breath alcohol concentration [BrAC] = 0.07%), a placebo condition (n = 44; BrAC = 0.00%), or a sober control condition (n = 41; BrAC = 0.00%). All participants (N = 136) completed the Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments (MRCI), which measured participants' understanding of the Miranda warnings, recognition of the warnings, appreciation of their rights in interrogation and court settings, and understanding of Miranda-related vocabulary. Results: We found a significant effect of intoxication condition on participants' understanding of Miranda warnings (eta p(2) = .14) and Miranda-related vocabulary (eta p(2) = .05) when controlling for VCI scores. Specifically, intoxicated participants received lower scores for understanding of warnings compared to sober and placebo participants, and lower scores for understanding of Miranda vocabulary compared to sober participants. Alcohol did not significantly impact Miranda rights recognition or appreciation. Conclusions: Alcohol intoxication may detrimentally impact some facets of Miranda comprehension. Thus, it is important that law enforcement consider refraining from questioning intoxicated suspects.
Public Significance Statement Alcohol-intoxicated suspects are often presumed capable of knowingly and intelligently waiving their Miranda rights. Our experimental findings, however, demonstrate that some aspects of individuals' understanding of their rights suffer as a function of alcohol intoxication. Specifically, participants' ability to verbalize the meaning of their rights, as well as the meaning of Miranda-specific vocabulary, appeared to suffer as a function of intoxication. Thus, as more research on this topic accumulates, law enforcement should consider waiting for intoxicated individuals to "sober up" before seeking to commence questioning.
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Details
- Title
- The Detrimental Impact of Alcohol Intoxication on Facets of Miranda Comprehension
- Creators
- Amelia Mindthoff - Iowa State Univ, Dept Psychol, Ames, IA USAJacqueline R. Evans - Florida Int Univ, Dept Psychol, 11200 SW 8th St,DM 256, Miami, FL 33199 USAAndrea C. F. Wolfs - Florida Int Univ, Dept Psychol, 11200 SW 8th St,DM 256, Miami, FL 33199 USAKarina Polanco - Florida Int Univ, Dept Psychol, 11200 SW 8th St,DM 256, Miami, FL 33199 USANaomi E. S. Goldstein - Drexel UniversityNadja Schreiber Compo - Florida Int Univ, Dept Psychol, 11200 SW 8th St,DM 256, Miami, FL 33199 USA
- Publication Details
- Law and human behavior, v 46(4), pp 264-276
- Publisher
- Educational Publishing Foundation-American Psychological Assoc
- Number of pages
- 13
- Grant note
- 2014-6693 / Swedish Research Council (Sweden); Swedish Research Council SES-1556762 / National Science Foundation (USA); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences (Psychology)
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000828825700004
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85135565816
- Other Identifier
- 991019302291304721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Law
- Psychology, Social