No, Miranda kicks in when you are in a "custodial" situation. You don't have to be officially under arrest.
Beckwith v. U.S.
I can tell you, the Police can and do show up at your door. They will attempt to convince you to speak to them without anyone else around - go into a separate room away from your family - many people even infer that they have to allow them in their house. They separate you from witnesses, in many cases, and they set about telling you lies in order to make you feel trapped.
It's not a custodial situation, but psychological factors are at work - and many people feel compelled to speak to authorities - even in their own house. There are people that even feel guilt and associate themselves with perpetrators to crimes similar to what they've been accused - even when they are totally innocent.
To me, the problem with the forced lieing and trapping tactic is that some go to it and it's their only trick. They use it in every criminal case. When this happens invariably other suspects are investigated and a certain percentage will falsely confess to end the ordeal - and a certain percentage will be wrongly indicted due to the strong convictions of the investigators and D.A. involved.
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That's right. "Custodial" is the magic word. I should have used e.g. instead of i.e. when I referred to an arrest.
Glad you're paying attention in your classes! :) I try my hardest to forget the whole law school experience. And that was nearly twenty years ago. I don't envy you, but I wish you lots of luck (and endurence). Those were three years I would gladly erase from my life. What an awful time. Hang in, SarahUSC!