The former Phoenix police detective on the early 1960's case that brought on the national use of the Miranda warning during arrests has died.

Caroll Cooley had been in a Phoenix-area hospice when he died May 29 from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to his family. He was 87.

Eventually rising to the ranks of captain in the police department and retiring in 1979, Cooley was a detective in a 1963 rape case that led to the conviction of Ernesto Miranda.

A written confession Cooley obtained from Miranda became the focal point of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, Miranda vs. Arizona. The Supreme Court’s decision in the case instituted the reading of rights to arrested individuals.

Miranda's conviction, case in the Supreme Court

Working the case, Cooley matched a partial license plate and car model to Miranda. Never informed of his rights since law enforcement was not required to do so, Miranda obliged Cooley’s request to accompany him to the police station.

Though he was not under arrest, the rape victim and a robbery victim both picked Miranda in a police lineup. Miranda had a history of arrests, including attempted rape, and matched suspect description in several of the police department’s unsolved crimes.

After telling Miranda he was picked out of the lineup, Cooley asked him to pen a confession.

"They accuse me of telling him what to write, which is absolute BS," Cooley said in an interview.

Miranda’s lawyer objected to the written confession being admitted as court evidence because the defendant had no counsel during his interrogation. The objection was overruled. Miranda was handed a rape and kidnapping conviction later upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court on grounds the confession was not obtained illegally.

Upon requests by the American Civil Liberties Union, a Phoenix-based law firm took Miranda’s case to the Supreme Court where in 1966 it became the lead among cases arguing violations to the Sixth Amendment. The Constitutional amendment guarantees the rights of criminal defendants, including the right to a lawyer.

In oral arguments, lawyer John J. Flynn argued police violated Miranda’s Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate himself.

The court agreed, 5-4, and the warning during arrest became expected practice among law enforcement.

Miranda was retried and sentenced to 20 to 30 years in prison and was paroled in 1972 before being sent incarcerated again for a parole violation. He was finally released in 1975 and died the next year from a stabbing in a Phoenix bar fight.

Lawman disagreed with decision

Cooley never agreed with the ruling, his widow, Glee Cooley, told The Arizona Republic in a Friday afternoon interview. Glee Cooley said her husband thought it deterred police investigations.

"You watch TV programs, the first thing they say is 'I want a lawyer,' so, you never get the information that you need to investigate," Glee Cooley said. "He thought it was a mistake, but there was not anything he could do about it."

Dennis Cooley told The Republic that his grandfather appeared to take pride in his part in history as he would regale his grandchildren about his role in the Miranda case.

Carroll F. Cooley was born Aug. 25, 1935 in Arkansas. He and his parents moved to Phoenix when he was a year old.

Cooley began his 21-year career on the Phoenix police force as a patrol officer in 1958. He went on to work for the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Arizona Department of Corrections.

Married for 58 years, Carroll and Glee met when he received care on a shooting injury he sustained to his face during an armed robbery. The doctor who healed his injury employed Glee. The bullet knocked out Carroll's upper right-side teeth and remained lodged for life in his upper lip as it was too close to a nerve to remove it.

Carroll Cooley was "an all-around, well-rounded sportsman" who won trophies for bodybuilding, enjoyed hunting and fishing and was an avid golfer, his widow said. The Cooleys regularly went scuba-diving for years, their favorite destination being the island of Roatán off the coast of Honduras.

In addition to his wife, Carroll Cooley is survived by four of five children, 12 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.

A service will be held at 1 p.m. June 15 at Hansen Desert Hills Mortuary and Cemetery on East Bell Road in Scottsdale.

Reach breaking news reporter Jose R. Gonzalez at jose.gonzalez@gannett.com or on Twitter @jrgzztx.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix cop in Miranda warning dies