Ex-WABC weather anchor Heidi Jones' charges for allegedly falsely reporting a near rape could be thrown out: The Manhattan DA's office admitted she was never read her Miranda rights while being questioned by cops. Her lawyer says Jones' admissions that she made up the rape story should be thrown out, but prosecutors think they should stay in.
According to court papers, prosecutors say, "The defendant, at the time her statements were given, gave her statements in the context of a criminal investigation she initiated... The defendant was not in custody at the time her statements were made. Miranda warnings were not required and the statements taken \[from\] the defendant was lawfully obtained."
Still, Jones' lawyer Paul Callan said, "That is a clear-cut violation of her Constitutional rights. The DA has confirmed no Miranda warnings were given despite being interrogated by two police detectives." Jones was arrested last year for filing a false police report after claiming she was nearly raped by a Hispanic man in Central Park and that he was stalking her afterwards. She was supposedly given a police detail but, upon questioning (and after the police spent hours on the case and found nothing), she admitted she made up the story because of personal issues.
