Terrorists, Miranda, and the Public Safety Exception, Part I

As everyone knows, a car bomb was recently found, and defused, in New York City. The New York Times summarizes the basic facts as follows: A crude car bomb made from gasoline, propane, firecrackers and alarm clocks was discovered in a smoking Nissan Pathfinder in the heart of Times Square on May 1, 2010, prompting the evacuation of thousands of tourists and theatergoers on a warm and busy night. Although the device had apparently started to detonate, there was no explosion. Just before midnight on May 3 — 53 hours later — a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan, Faisal Shahzad, was pulled from a Dubai-bound airliner at John F. Kennedy International Airport and arrested in connection with the incident. For criminal lawyers, an interesting part of the story concerns what happened after Mr. Shahzad's arrest. Again, the New York Times reports: [Shahzad] was interrogated without initially being read his Miranda rights under a public safety exception, and provided what the F.B.I. called “valuable intelligence and evidence.” The Times states that Mr. Shahzad was detained for "three or four hours" before being Mirandized. It appears that he continued to talk even after being read his rights. The case has reignited a debate about whether terrorism suspects should be given Miranda rights at all. This issue first made news in connection with the Christmas Day underwear bomber. Reports suggest that he provided some information in pre-Miranda interviews, but after a break in the interrogation, a change in interrogators, and the administration of Miranda [...]