One of the most famous opinions in American jurisprudence is that of the United States Supreme Court in the case of Miranda v. Arizona. 384 U.S. 436 (1966). The Court’s prophylactic rule in Miranda has been followed in both state and federal courts with little derogation for over thirty years. On February 8, 1999, in Dickerson v. United States. 166 F.3d 667, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ignored Miranda, turning instead to 18 U.S.C. § 3501, a relatively obscure federal statute enacted in 1968 in response to the Court’s decision in Miranda. The United State Supreme Court granted certiorari and heard oral arguments early in the summer of last year and on June 26, 2000, the Court reversed the opinion of the Fourth Circuit in Dickerson and reaffirmed Miranda and its progeny. There were many who felt the need for Miranda had passed; indeed, Congress enacted a legislative replacement just a few years after Miranda, and even today educators and politicians continue to criticize the opinion. The discussion in Dickerson focused on whether Miranda was a constitutional rule and thus, whether § 3501 of the United States Code was a proper exercise of Congress’ power. Had that argument been successful, § 3501 would have been validated and Miranda would have faded into quiet disuetude. But the argument failed. The Supreme Court rejcted § 3501 and reaffirmed Miranda and preserved all of its exceptions; exceptions created by the Court itself. Thus Miranda is still the law today, despite its steady erosion by the judiciary over the decades and despite the early attempt by Congress to legislate an alternative.With the opinion in Dickerson, the Court has made it quite clear that Miranda will linger into the uncertain future. Acknowledging Miranda’s survival, this thesis will explore the relevant facts and opinions in some detail then submit an alternative to the unpleasant result reached when a defendant’s voluntary confession is suppressed due to a technical violation of the Court’s famous rule.

Thesis advisor: Larry W. McLaughlin / The ability to control gene expression has traditionally been pursued at the protein level, using drugs designed to mimic a natural substrate or to disrupt a protein's active site. Traditional drug targeting by competitive and non-competitive inhibitors, however, requires a fairly detailed knowledge of the target protein's three-dimensional structure. More recently, focus has broadened to include alternative methods of genetic control, including the use of single-stranded DNA or RNA probe sequences which control gene expression by targeting the genes themselves. Within the last two decades, peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) – DNA mimics possessing natural bases linked to an N-(2-aminoethyl)-glycine (AEG) backbone – have proven as effective in gene-targeting as traditional synthetic DNA or RNA with the added advantages of tighter binding and greater specificity. Additionally, PNAs are not easily recognized by nucleases, proteases, and peptidases giving them greater resistance to enzyme degradation and making them even more favorable for gene targeting in vivo. Traditional PNA triplexes are composed of two polypyrmidine PNA strands bound to the Watson-Crick and Hoogsteen faces, respectively, of the polypurine strand of target DNA after displacing the polypyrimidine strand of the original DNA duplex. Janus Wedge (JW) residues, on the other hand, utilize unnatural bases linked to the AEG backbone, which are capable of hydrogen bonding to the Watson-Crick faces of both strands of a target DNA duplex. JW triplex formation, then, has a DNA2-PNA stoichiometry, and no Hoogsteen face interactions. The generalization of the DNA duplex targeting strategy by peptide oligomers requires substantial discoveries in the field of PNA research, including an understanding of the three-dimensional structure and folding pattern of these triple-stranded molecules. This report details the crystallization efforts on JW DNA-peptide-DNA triplexes using 11dC811-11T811 target sequences – with and without single base overhangs – and synthetic W8K peptide. Hanging drop vapor diffusion methods showed that while crystal formation was extremely elusive, in narrowing the optimal buffer conditions, 25% PEG concentration was consistently correlated with the most promising crystallization efforts for both the overhanged and non-overhanged sequences. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2005. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Chemistry. / Discipline: College Honors Program.