In “Gideon v. Wainwright” (1963), the U.S. Supreme Court said that a person who had been arrested had a right to an attorney, even if he or she could not afford one. Just three years later, in ”Miranda v. Arizona,” the Court ruled 5-4 that police had to explain to the person arrested that he or she had the right to an attorney and the right to remain silent.
Why those rulings were so important is illustrated in a recent historical investigation by Ron Rabenold published in the January 15 Times News. The story, entitled “Secrets of the Big Creek Valley,” details a possible intentional drowning in the Pohopoco Creek in Carbon County.
Mr. Rabenold writes: “District Attorney Albert H. Heimbach told the press that they were ‘turning up the heat’ with ‘third degree tactics’ on their yet-to-be-named key suspect. After a 20-hour marathon interrogation in 2-hour relays, including brutal punches to the face and kicks to the ribs, the police arrived at a confession from Komatowski.”
That happened in Carbon County in 1941, 25 years before Miranda.
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