Opinion ID: 2772756
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: proceedings in the california courts

Text: Before trial, Sessoms moved to suppress the incriminating statements arguing that they were obtained in violation of Miranda because he had “clearly and unequivocally” invoked his right to counsel. The trial court denied the motion. Sessoms went to trial and was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery, and burglary, with the special circumstance that he was engaged in the commission or attempted commission of the crimes of robbery and burglary when the murder occurred. At the conclusion of the trial, Sessoms moved for a new trial “based upon prejudicial Miranda error,” renewing the objections he had made in his pretrial motion. The trial court denied the motion. Sessoms was sentenced principally to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Sessoms appealed to the California Court of Appeal, which determined that Sessoms’s statements did not qualify as an invocation of the right to counsel under Davis, 512 U.S. 452.4 It found that “although [Sessoms] twice explicitly referred to an attorney, neither statement was an unequivocal 4 The California Court of Appeal’s opinion is “the last reasoned opinion” in this matter for purposes of AEDPA. Ylst v. Nunnemaker, 501 U.S. 797, 803 (1991); see Barker v. Fleming, 423 F.3d 1085, 1091 (9th Cir. 2005). 12 SESSOMS V. GROUNDS or unambiguous request for counsel.” People v. Sessoms, No. C041139, 2004 WL 49720, at  (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 12, 2004). According to the Court of Appeal, Sessoms’s first statement was “legally indistinguishable” from the statements made in Davis, 512 U.S. at 455 (“Maybe I should talk to a lawyer”) and People v. Crittenden, 9 Cal. App. 4th 83, 123–24 (1994) (“Did you say I could have a lawyer?”), which were not unequivocal requests for an attorney. Id. Sessoms’s second statement, the court continued, was also not an unequivocal request for an attorney, but “[a]t best . . . a statement of his father’s advice to him.” Id. Ultimately, the Court of Appeal concluded that Sessoms’s statements were not “sufficiently clear[] that a reasonable police officer in the circumstances would understand the statement to be a request for an attorney.” Id. (quoting Davis, 512 U.S. at 459) (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted).