Rhode Island v. Innis

Rhode Island v. Innis (1980) was a U.S. Supreme Court case that clarified the definition of "interrogation" under the Fifth Amendment as it relates to Miranda rights. The Court ruled that interrogation includes not only direct questioning but also any words or actions by the police that are the functional equivalent of direct questioning, meaning they are reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response from the suspect.12

In this case, police officers discussed the location of a weapon near the arrested suspect. The Court found that this conversation, while not direct questioning, was likely to elicit a response and therefore constituted interrogation. This ruling aimed to protect individuals from subtle forms of police coercion during custodial interrogations.12