Miranda and the Non-Custodial Interrogation

Miranda and the Non-Custodial Interrogation

Robert C. Phillips
DDA (Retired)
June, 2015

Kim Raymond Kopatz was deeply in debt.  With thirteen maxed-out credit cards totaling some $117,883 of debt, and a family monthly income that covered only half the bills, including the minimum credit card payments, Kopatz’s was living upside down, financially speaking.  His wife, Mary, worked as the manager of a Jenny Craig weight loss center in Riverside.  But Kopatz himself was unable to help with the family income due to injuries he’d suffered in a workplace accident.  And as a stay-at-home father to his two daughters, Kopatz’s efforts to make money in the stock market through day-trading was just not working out.

However, Kopatz did have life insurance policies on his wife and his 3-year-old daughter, Carley, totaling more than $800,000 in value, as well as $13,628 in policies on his wife’s wedding and anniversary rings.  But of course, that money just wasn’t available, . . . unless, . . .

On April 22, 1999, Mary, who was always punctual, failed to show up at work.  Also, the couple’s eight-year-old daughter, Ashley, who Kopatz had taken to school that morning, was experiencing a diabetes-related problem requiring the school officials to get permission to administer an insulin shot.  Efforts by both the school officials and Mary’s co-workers to get ahold of either Mary or Kopatz during the morning hours were unsuccessful, with neither person answering their cell phones nor home phone. 

A drive-by of the Kopatzs’ home revealed that Mary’s Chrysler, which she always drove to work, was parked in the driveway, and the family van, which normally occupied that spot, was nowhere in sight.  And Ray Kopatz was similarly nowhere to be seen.  More calls to both the Kopatzs’ cells and their home phone continued to go ....

© 2026 Legal Updates, LLC.
This content is protected by copyright law. Republishing or redistribution in any form without written permission is strictly prohibited. For licensing or reprint requests, contact support@legalupdates.com.