Facts

Joe, a 14 year old, was at a party. At 12:30 a.m., he was sitting on the steps to the apartment where the party was occurring when he saw two police cars arrive. He yelled to the party-goers, 5-0. Joe remained sitting outside as the police approached. An officer took Joe to a police car and sat him in the back seat. The offer asked Joe his name, date of birth, address, and his parents names and phone number. The officer cited Joe for the curfew violation.

Rule of Law

A person subject to a custodial interrogation must be given Miranda rights before the questioning begins. Custody is defined as a reasonable persons liberty is retrained to the extent they believe they are not free to leave. Interrogation is defined as being asked any questions that would likely lead to an answer that would incriminate oneself. The cur-few law states a person under the age of 15 who is outside their residence past 11:00 p.m. without the presence of a parent, guardian, or supervising adult, is a delinquent youth.

Assignment

The researchers assignment is to determine if the offi-cer should have read Joe the Miranda warning before questioning him.