Opinion ID: 1582584
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Supreme Court jurisprudence pre- and post -Edwards v. Arizona

Text: Subsequent to Edwards, a plurality of the Court in Oregon v. Bradshaw, 462 U.S. 1039, 103 S.Ct. 2830, 77 L.Ed.2d 405 (1983), addressed what constituted, under Edwards, initiation by the accused of conversation with law enforcement. Questions by the accused regarding the routine incidents of the custodial relationship, for example, asking to use the bathroom or the telephone, are not valid initiations by the accused. 462 U.S. at 1045, 103 S.Ct. 2830. Instead, the accused must evince[ ] a willingness and a desire for a generalized discussion about the investigation. 462 U.S. at 1045-46, 103 S.Ct. 2830. In Arizona v. Roberson, 486 U.S. 675, 108 S.Ct. 2093, 100 L.Ed.2d 704 (1988), the Supreme Court addressed whether the Fifth Amendment bars police-initiated interrogation in a case following an accused's request for counsel in an investigation of an unrelated case. Roberson was arrested on suspicion of burglary, and he requested counsel before answering questions. While he was still in custody on the burglary charge, different officers read Roberson his Miranda rights, interrogated him, and obtained incriminating statements about a second unrelated offense. The Supreme Court held that the presumption that a suspect believes he is unable to proceed without counsel does not disappear simply because the police have approached the suspect, still in custody, still without counsel, about a separate investigation. 486 U.S. at 683, 108 S.Ct. 2093. The Supreme Court rejected the contention that the police officer's lack of knowledge as to Roberson's previous invocation of his Miranda rights vitiated the protections afforded by the rule of Edwards: In addition to the fact that Edwards focuses on the state of mind of the suspect and not of the police, custodial interrogation must be conducted pursuant to established procedures, and those procedures in turn must enable an officer who proposes to initiate an interrogation to determine whether the suspect has previously requested counsel.... [W]hether the same or different law enforcement authorities are involved in the second investigation, the same need to determine whether the suspect has requested counsel exists. The police department's failure to honor that request cannot be justified by the lack of diligence of a particular officer. Roberson, 486 U.S. at 687-88, 108 S.Ct. 2093 (footnote omitted). In North Carolina v. Butler, 441 U.S. 369, 99 S.Ct. 1755, 60 L.Ed.2d 286 (1979), the Supreme Court quoted Miranda: `Without proper safeguards the process of in-custody interrogation of persons suspected or accused of crime contains inherently compelling pressures which work to undermine the individual's will to resist and to compel him to speak where he would not otherwise do so freely.' 441 U.S. at 374, 99 S.Ct. 1755 (quoting Miranda, 384 U.S. at 467, 86 S.Ct. 1602). However, the Butler Court held that Miranda does not require an express waiver of the right to counsel. Butler had made a statement that he wanted to talk with police but that he would not sign anything. He then implicated himself. The Supreme Court held that Butler's inculpatory statements made during his custodial interrogation without counsel were not inadmissible simply because of the absence of an express waiver of the right to counsel. An express written or oral statement of waiver of the right to remain silent or of the right to counsel is usually strong proof of the validity of that waiver .... The courts must presume that a defendant did not waive his rights; the prosecution's burden is great; but in at least some cases waiver can be clearly inferred from the actions and words of the person interrogated. 441 U.S. at 373, 99 S.Ct. 1755. In Smith v. Illinois, 469 U.S. 91, 105 S.Ct. 490, 83 L.Ed.2d 488 (1984), the Supreme Court stated that the rule in Edwards involves two independent inquiries: First, courts must determine whether the accused actually invoked his right to counsel.... Second, if the accused invoked his right to counsel, courts may admit his responses to further questioning only on a finding that he (a) initiated further discussions with the police, and (b) knowingly and intelligently waived the right he had invoked. 469 U.S. at 95, 105 S.Ct. 490. The Smith Court further stated: In the absence of such a bright-line prohibition, the authorities through `badger[ing]' or `overreaching'explicit or subtle, deliberate or unintentionalmight otherwise wear down the accused or persuade him to incriminate himself notwithstanding his earlier request for counsel's assistance. 469 U.S. at 98, 105 S.Ct. 490. In Smith, the police read Smith his Miranda rights and asked if he understood his right to have counsel present during the interrogation. Smith responded, Uh, yeah. I'd like to do that. 469 U.S. at 93 105 S.Ct. 490. The police officer then finished reading Smith his rights and asked if Smith wanted to talk to the officer without a lawyer present, to which Smith answered, Yeah and no, uh, I don't know what's what really. Id. Smith then agreed to talk to the police; he ultimately confessed. After more questioning, Smith insisted that he wanted to speak to a lawyer, and the interrogation ceased. The Supreme Court held that Smith's statements were inadmissible. Later, in Minnick v. Mississippi, 498 U.S. 146, 111 S.Ct. 486, 112 L.Ed.2d 489 (1990), the Supreme Court addressed whether the rule in Edwards would require suppression of a confession when the police obtained the confession during an interrogation that occurred after the accused had requested counsel but without counsel present. Minnick had escaped from jail and murdered two people. He was eventually apprehended and then questioned by federal officers. The questioning ceased when Minnick requested counsel. However, after Minnick had conferred with counsel, the questioning resumed, without counsel present, and Minnick confessed. Minnick challenged the admission of the incriminating statement he had made to police after speaking with his lawyer because, he argued, he had never waived his Miranda rights. The Supreme Court held that any confession given in response to police interrogation outside the presence of counsel, once counsel has been requested, may not be admitted at trial unless the defendant himself had reinitiated the communication with police.  Edwards is `designed to prevent police from badgering a defendant into waiving his previously asserted Miranda rights.' Michigan v. Harvey, 494 U.S. 344, 350 (1990). See also Smith v. Illinois, 469 U.S. 91, 98 (1984). The rule ensures that any statement made in subsequent interrogation is not the result of coercive pressures. Edwards conserves judicial resources which would otherwise be expended in making difficult determinations of voluntariness, and implements the protections of Miranda in practical and straightforward terms. The merit of the Edwards decision lies in the clarity of its command and the certainty of its application. We have confirmed that the Edwards rule provides `clear and unequivocal guidelines to the law enforcement profession.' Arizona v. Roberson, 486 U.S. 675, 682 (1988). Cf. Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. 412, 425-426 (1986). Even before Edwards, we noted that Miranda 's `relatively rigid requirement that interrogation must cease upon the accused's request for an attorney ... has the virtue of informing police and prosecutors with specificity as to what they may do in conducting custodial interrogation, and of informing courts under what circumstances statements obtained during such interrogation are not admissible. This gain in specificity, which benefits the accused and the State alike, has been thought to outweigh the burdens that the decision in Miranda imposes on law enforcement agencies and the courts by requiring the suppression of trustworthy and highly probative evidence even though the confession might be voluntary under traditional Fifth Amendment analysis.' Fare v. Michael C., 442 U.S. 707, 718 (1979). This pre- Edwards explanation applies as well to Edwards and its progeny. Arizona v. Roberson, supra, 486 U.S., at 681-682. 498 U.S. at 150-51, 111 S.Ct. 486. The Supreme Court went on to state that it declined to remove an accused's protection from police-initiated questioning based on the accused's isolated consultations with counsel, who is absent when the interrogation resumes. To that end, the Supreme Court stated: The exception to Edwards here proposed is inconsistent with Edwards ' purpose to protect the suspect's right to have counsel present at custodial interrogation. It is inconsistent as well with Miranda, where we specifically rejected respondent's theory that the opportunity to consult with one's attorney would substantially counteract the compulsion created by custodial interrogation. We noted in Miranda that `[e]ven preliminary advice given to the accused by his own attorney can be swiftly overcome by the secret interrogation process. Thus the need for counsel to protect the Fifth Amendment privilege comprehends not merely a right to consult with counsel prior to questioning, but also to have counsel present during any questioning if the defendant so desires.' 384 U.S., at 470 (citation omitted). The exception proposed, furthermore, would undermine the advantages flowing from Edwards ' `clear and unequivocal' character. Respondent concedes that even after consultation with counsel, a second request for counsel should reinstate the Edwards protection. We are invited by this formulation to adopt a regime in which Edwards ' protection could pass in and out of existence multiple times prior to arraignment, at which point the same protection might reattach by virtue of our Sixth Amendment jurisprudence, see Michigan v. Jackson, 475 U.S. 625 (1986). Vagaries of this sort spread confusion through the justice system and lead to a consequent loss of respect for the underlying constitutional principle. In addition, adopting the rule proposed would leave far from certain the sort of consultation required to displace Edwards. Consultation is not a precise concept, for it may encompass variations from a telephone call to say that the attorney is en route, to a hurried interchange between the attorney and client in a detention facility corridor, to a lengthy in-person conference in which the attorney gives full and adequate advice respecting all matters that might be covered in further interrogations. And even with the necessary scope of consultation settled, the officials in charge of the case would have to confirm the occurrence and, possibly, the extent of consultation to determine whether further interrogation is permissible. The necessary inquiries could interfere with the attorney-client privilege. Added to these difficulties in definition and application of the proposed rule is our concern over its consequence that the suspect whose counsel is prompt would lose the protection of Edwards, while the one whose counsel is dilatory would not. There is more than irony to this result. There is a strong possibility that it would distort the proper conception of the attorney's duty to the client and set us on a course at odds with what ought to be effective representation. Both waiver of rights and admission of guilt are consistent with the affirmation of individual responsibility that is a principle of the criminal justice system. It does not detract from this principle, however, to insist that neither admissions nor waivers are effective unless there are both particular and systemic assurances that the coercive pressures of custody were not the inducing cause. The Edwards rule sets forth a specific standard to fulfill these purposes, and we have declined to confine it in other instances. See Arizona v. Roberson, 486 U.S. 675 (1988). It would detract from the efficacy of the rule to remove its protections based on consultation with counsel. 498 U.S. at 154-56, 111 S.Ct. 486. In Davis v. United States, 512 U.S. 452, 114 S.Ct. 2350, 129 L.Ed.2d 362 (1994), the Supreme Court concluded that the rule in Edwards does not apply when a suspect fails to unambiguously ask for a lawyer. The Edwards rule `is designed to prevent police from badgering a defendant into waiving his previously asserted Miranda rights.' 512 U.S. at 458, 114 S.Ct. 2350 (quoting Michigan v. Harvey, 494 U.S. 344, 350, 110 S.Ct. 1176, 108 L.Ed.2d 293 (1990)). The Davis Court stated: To recapitulate: We held in Miranda that a suspect is entitled to the assistance of counsel during custodial interrogation even though the Constitution does not provide for such assistance. We held in Edwards that if the suspect invokes the right to counsel at any time, the police must immediately cease questioning him until an attorney is present. But we are unwilling to create a third layer of prophylaxis to prevent police questioning when the suspect might want a lawyer. Unless the suspect actually requests an attorney, questioning may continue. 512 U.S. at 462, 114 S.Ct. 2350.