Opinion ID: 874884
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Invocation

Text: Prior to trial, Payne moved to suppress statements he made to Officer Herbert during his interrogation at the hospital in Eugene. The district court denied Payne's motion to suppress as to the statements he made to Herbert. At the suppression hearing, Herbert testified that he initially met Payne at the Sacred Heart Hospital Emergency Room in Eugene, Oregon. Herbert began by introducing himself and identifying himself as a police officer. His first question to Payne was: Is she still alive? Payne answered, I don't think I should answer that. Herbert also testified that after making this statement, Payne never expressed an unwillingness to answer questions and never asked for counsel. After a suspect has been advised of the right to remain silent and of the right to counsel pursuant to Miranda, police may not proceed with questioning if the suspect indicates a desire to remain silent. Miranda, 384 U.S. at 473-74, 86 S.Ct. at 1627-28, 16 L.Ed.2d at 722-23; State v. Rhoades, 119 Idaho 594, 602, 809 P.2d 455, 463 (1991). An individual's right to cut off questioning is grounded in the Fifth Amendment and must be scrupulously honored. Michigan v. Mosley, 423 U.S. 96, 103, 96 S.Ct. 321, 326, 46 L.Ed.2d 313, 321 (1975). However, police officers are only required to cease questioning if the invocation of Miranda rights is clear and unequivocal. See Davis v. United States, 512 U.S. 452, 459-60, 114 S.Ct. 2350, 2355-56, 129 L.Ed.2d 362, 371-72 (1994); Varie, 135 Idaho at 853, 26 P.3d at 36. The United States Supreme Court held that in order to effectively invoke the right to counsel, a suspect must articulate his desire to have counsel present sufficiently clearly that a reasonable police officer in the circumstances would understand the statement to be a request for an attorney.... If the suspect's statement is not an unambiguous or unequivocal request for counsel, the officers have no obligation to stop questioning him. Davis, 512 U.S. at 459-62, 114 S.Ct. at 2355-56, 129 L.Ed.2d at 371-73. This clear articulation rule is also applicable to a defendant's assertion of his right to remain silent. State v. Law, 136 Idaho 721, 724-25, 39 P.3d 661, 664-65 (Ct.App.2002) (citing United States v. Banks, 78 F.3d 1190, 1197 (7th Cir.1996); United States v. Johnson, 56 F.3d 947, 955 (8th Cir.1995); Coleman v. Singletary, 30 F.3d 1420, 1424 (11th Cir.1994)); see also Arnold v. Runnels, 421 F.3d 859, 865 (9th Cir.2005); State v. Whipple, 134 Idaho 498, 502-04, 5 P.3d 478, 482-484 (Ct.App.2000). Thus, a suspect's ambiguous or equivocal comment that does not plainly express a desire to remain silent or to terminate the interview will not obligate police to cease questioning. Law, 136 Idaho at 725, 39 P.3d at 665. Here, Payne's statement, I don't think I should answer that, is not sufficiently clear such that a reasonable officer in the circumstances would understand it as an invocation of the right to remain silent. The phrase, I think, like the phrase maybe I should is equivocal. Clark v. Murphy, 331 F.3d 1062, 1070 (9th Cir.2003). As Payne did not clearly invoke his right to remain silent, Herbert had no duty to discontinue his questioning of Payne. See Davis, 512 U.S. at 460-62, 114 S.Ct. at 2355-56, 129 L.Ed.2d at 372-73.