Opinion ID: 1190975
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Should This Court Commingle the Fifth and Sixth Amendments' Guaranties of the Right to Counsel in the Instant Case?

Text: [2, 3] The foregoing analysis demonstrates the application of different constitutional tests depending upon the situation of the accused. Under the Fifth Amendment paradigm, where the accused is in custody and subjected to interrogation, regardless of whether formal proceedings have been initiated, interpretation of the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination requires that the accused be warned of his constitutional right to have counsel present during this inherently coercive situation. Should that right be waived, interrogation may proceed. However, should the accused request counsel in such a situation, interrogation must cease until counsel is present, unless the accused initiates further communication. In contrast, in a Sixth Amendment setting, where formal proceedings have been initiated against the accused, regardless of whether the accused is in custody, the Sixth Amendment right to counsel has attached as to those charges. Notwithstanding this analysis, Stewart requests this court to extend the Edwards prophylactic rule in order to shield his custodial confession that occurred following the invocation of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel at an arraignment on an unrelated charge. Stewart presses for the extension of the rule, even though his request for counsel occurred in a setting in which Miranda, and thus Edwards, are wholly inapplicable. Nonetheless, Stewart claims, the possibility of potential confusion demands the protection of unwary defendants. We are unpersuaded. [4] While not controlling on the present facts, Stewart argues the combined logic of Michigan v. Jackson, supra , and Arizona v. Roberson, supra , supports his position. In fact, in three of the five cases where this question has arisen, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the Michigan Court of Appeals, and our Court of Appeals in the case at hand have each held the invocation of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel at arraignment effectively terminates any interrogation on unrelated crimes for Fifth Amendment purposes. In United States ex rel. Espinoza v. Fairman, 813 F.2d 117 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 483 U.S. 1010 (1987), the accused was arrested on a weapons charge, and at his arraignment on that charge he was represented by counsel. Subsequently, while still in custody, the police interrogated the accused regarding a murder, to which the accused confessed. The Court of Appeals held that no Sixth Amendment right to counsel had attached on the murder charge, but that the accused's invocation of his Fifth Amendment right to counsel at his arraignment on the weapons charge (which we would classify as an invocation of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel) rendered his subsequent confession to the murder inadmissible. The court felt compelled by the Court's holding in Michigan v. Jackson, supra , to presume that an individual has invoked the full extent of his or her constitutional right to counsel. United States ex rel. Espinoza v. Fairman, 813 F.2d at 123. The flaw in this analysis is that there is no basis from which to assume the invocation of the Fifth Amendment right to counsel in an arraignment setting. It will be recalled Michigan v. Jackson, supra , involved solely the Sixth Amendment right to counsel. Persuaded by the Seventh Circuit's reasoning, the Michigan Court of Appeals in People v. Crusoe, 170 Mich. App. 403, 427 N.W.2d 634, appeal granted, 431 Mich. 906, 432 N.W.2d 714 (1988) suppressed the accused's confession and reversed his conviction. In that case, the accused had been arrested on an assault charge; was subsequently arraigned; requested the appointment of counsel on that charge; and while in continuous custody, confessed to an unrelated bank robbery after waiving his Miranda rights. The court assumed the accused was invoking both the Fifth and Sixth Amendments' rights to counsel, even though no basis existed at that point in time for the Fifth Amendment right to attach: When defendant requested counsel at his arraignment on the charges of ... assault, we presume that he was invoking both his Sixth Amendment right to be represented at every critical stage of the prosecution of those ... charges as well as his Fifth Amendment right to be represented during interrogation on the ... assault charges or on any other crime for which he may have been a suspect. People v. Crusoe, 170 Mich. App. at 408. As in Espinoza, this was the holding despite the fact that no interrogation was taking place that might have implicated Fifth Amendment rights, and no Sixth Amendment right had accrued on the unrelated investigation. Also directly on point, but reaching the opposite conclusion is Butler v. Aiken, 846 F.2d 255 (4th Cir.1988), cert. granted, 109 S.Ct. 1952 (1989). In that case, the accused was arrested on an unrelated assault and battery charge. He retained counsel, and his counsel appeared at a subsequent bond hearing on his behalf. The accused, however, was unable to make bond and remained in the custody of the jail. One day later, the accused was interrogated on a murder charge after waiving his Miranda rights. At no time did he request the presence of counsel. The accused confessed to the murder. Following conviction and exhaustion of available state remedies, the defendant sought relief via a writ of habeas corpus, contending his Fifth Amendment right to counsel invoked by the appearance of his attorney at the bond hearing on the unrelated charge effectively invoked his Fifth Amendment right for interrogation purposes on the murder investigation. Rejecting this argument, and the reasoning of the Seventh Circuit in Espinoza, the court stated, [w]e are not persuaded, however, by the Seventh Circuit's dramatic extension of Edwards.  Butler v. Aiken, 846 F.2d at 258. The court in Butler v. Aiken, supra , intelligently analyzed the distinctions between the Fifth and Sixth Amendments' guaranties of the right to counsel. Upon a proper understanding of the origins of those rights, the court concluded: Although superficially appealing, we are convinced that the decision of the Seventh Circuit pursues a false symmetry while cutting the decision in Edwards away from its conceptual base. Butler v. Aiken, 846 F.2d at 258. It could not have been more aptly stated: As the Supreme Court has observed, the prophylactic rule adopted in Edwards has only a tangential relation to truthfinding. It was articulated as a reflection of the Court's belief that additional procedural safeguards were needed to protect an accused's preexisting right to request counsel during custodial interrogation. Such safeguards by their inherent nature are a judicial response to specific and identifiable conditions that undermine the perceived integrity of the legal system. In Miranda, for example, the Court sought to insure that statements made by an accused while in the unavoidably coercive atmosphere of custodial interrogation could reasonably be viewed as truly voluntary. In Edwards, the Court's concern lay with police conduct that might badger an accused into abandoning a previously invoked right. We fail to see how the actions of the Charleston police could fall within the intent of the Court in Edwards. There is no suggestion that [the defendant's] arrest on the assault charges was a sham intended to make him available for questioning upon a more serious offense. Neither was there reinterrogation on the same offense that might have sent mixed signals regarding his continuing right to request counsel. Certainly, if [the defendant] had been released on bond and then rearrested an hour later on murder charges, the authorities would have been permitted to engage in proper interrogation. We see no reason for a different result simply because the custody was continuous. (Citations omitted. Italics ours.) Butler v. Aiken, 846 F.2d at 258-59. The only other case directly on point is State v. Sparklin, 296 Or. 85, 672 P.2d 1182 (1983). In that case, the accused was arrested on an unrelated forgery charge. He was subsequently arraigned, and at that time, he requested and was provided with counsel. Later that evening, police questioned the accused regarding an assault, robbery, and murder investigation. The accused confessed and was convicted. It is noted, the accused's confession was preceded by Miranda warnings, which he waived. Properly analyzing the origins of the distinct constitutional guaranties, the court rejected the accused's Fifth Amendment argument: We do not regard this defendant's request for an attorney at arraignment as an assertion of his right to be free from compelled self incrimination. The need for an attorney's presence at interrogation arises when the state may elicit from defendant admissions or confessions. At arraignment defendant is not confronted with an atmosphere of coercion, nor does anyone seek to gain admissions from him. State v. Sparklin, 296 Or. at 89. Finally, we approve of dicta in State v. Cornethan, 38 Wn. App. 231, 684 P.2d 1355 (1984) supporting our position today. In that case the accused was arrested on an unrelated assault charge and taken to the hospital for treatment following his arrest. An attorney was appointed to represent him on that charge. Subsequently, detectives visited the accused at the hospital, read him his Miranda rights, and interrogated him on a murder investigation. After waiving his Miranda rights, the accused confessed to the murder. The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction for murder. The court hypothetically assumed the accused had invoked his right to counsel on the assault charge in order to show that even under those circumstances, no constitutional violation had occurred: We hold that Edwards is not controlling in these circumstances. The per se rule of Edwards should not be extended to suppress a confession which, as here, is in all other respects knowing, voluntary and intelligent. Thus, even if [the accused] had invoked his right to counsel in the assault matter, his confession to the murder was properly admitted at trial. (Citations omitted.) State v. Cornethan, 38 Wn. App. at 236-37. In the end, we hold Stewart's Sixth Amendment right to counsel did not attach on these burglary charges until months after his confessions. He did not invoke his Fifth Amendment right to counsel when he requested an attorney at an arraignment on an unrelated charge. The Fifth Amendment right to counsel exists solely to guard against coercive, and therefore unreliable, confessions obtained during in-custody interrogation, which was not occurring at the time Stewart requested counsel. Subsequently, prior to giving his confession, Stewart was given Miranda warnings and did not invoke his Fifth Amendment right at that time. There has been no showing of confusion on the part of the defendant, nor trickery on the part of the State. Extension of the Edwards rule to this fact scenario would constitute a misapplication of that prophylactic rule. Accordingly, we reverse the Court of Appeals holding that Stewart's Fifth Amendment right to counsel was violated and reinstate the judgment of conviction on all six counts of burglary. CALLOW, C.J., and UTTER, BRACHTENBACH, DOLLIVER, DORE, ANDERSEN, DURHAM, and SMITH, JJ., concur.