Dr. Steven Gaskell at Psycholegal Assessments, Inc. performs forensic psychological examinations of whether an individual had a knowing and intelligent waiver of their Miranda Rights, as well as the voluntariness of such a waiver. There are also occasions where persons charged with a crime provide false confessions to the police. Psychological testing is available in for Miranda Rights issues including, but not limited to, the Gudjonsson Scales. Psychological evaluations can be completed throughout Illinois, Georgia, Florida, and Arizona. Psycholegal Assessments, Inc. also performs a wide variety of Forensic Psychology Evaluations.

Confessions and other self-incriminating statements to law enforcement officials are a strong source of evidence against a defendant at a trial. Confessions are produced in about 50% of criminal cases. It has been shown that suspects who provide self-incriminating statements are 26% more likely to be found guilty and convicted (Leo, 2006). Miranda v. Arizona (1966) described a defendant’s confession as “the most compelling possible evidence of guilt.” The Supreme Court ruled in the Miranda case that any statement made in custodial police interrogation would be presumed inadmissible unless the police provided four warnings (some jurisdictions added a fifth) to remind the defendant of his or her constitutional rights.

An individual cannot waive his or her Miranda rights unless they are able to knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily do so. "Knowingly" refers to an individual's ability to understand the language in which the Miranda rights were read or written. "Intelligently" refers to the individual's ability to comprehend the meaning of the warning. "Voluntarily" means that the individual waived his or her rights without being coerced by the police to do so. When there is a question that the aforementioned criteria may not be met, the court or the defense may request a psychological evaluation regarding the defendant's competency to waive his or her Miranda rights. An evaluation of an individual's competency to waive his or her Miranda rights includes, but is not limited to the following: