Opinion ID: 1501547
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: appellant's right to counsel

Text: Appellant claims that his Sixth Amendment right to counsel was violated by the use of statements obtained during the March 7 interview conducted without the presence or consent of his attorney. When appellant moved to suppress statements from that interview before trial, the trial court conducted an evidentiary hearing, at which both Deputy Purdy and appellant's counsel testified. The trial court found that Purdy twice advised appellant of his Miranda rights. In addition, the court found that although Purdy advised appellant that he had counsel and asked whether or not he wanted to have his counsel present during the interview, appellant indicated that he did not wish to confer with his attorney and consented to be interrogated without counsel being present. Finding that appellant understood his rights, the trial court ruled that appellant validly waived his right to counsel. Appellant now argues that a defendant who has been charged formally and who is represented by counsel has a right to have his attorney notified before he is interrogated by government officials. He contends that the right to notification of his attorney is a corollary to his Sixth Amendment right to counsel, and any statement made during an interview conducted without notice to his attorney should be suppressed. At the outset, we must address the question whether a defendant may ever waive his right to the presence of counsel, after it has attached, without notice to or consultation with his attorney. Various federal circuit courts of appeal and state courts have answered this question differently. See, e. g., United States v. Thomas, 474 F.2d 110 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 412 U.S. 932, 93 S.Ct. 2758, 37 L.Ed.2d 160 (1973); United States v. Springer, 460 F.2d 1344, 1350 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 873, 93 S.Ct. 1305, 34 L.Ed.2d 125 (1972); United States ex rel. O'Connor v. New Jersey, 405 F.2d 632 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 395 U.S. 923, 89 S.Ct. 1770, 23 L.Ed.2d 240 (1969); State v. Witt, 422 S.W.2d 304 (Mo.1967); and State v. Green, 46 N.J. 192, 215 A.2d 546 (1965), cert. denied, 384 U.S. 946, 86 S.Ct. 1475, 16 L.Ed.2d 544 (1966). Although the Supreme Court has not specifically resolved the issue, we believe that the holding in Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387, 97 S.Ct. 1232, 51 L.Ed.2d 423 (1977), supports the view that a defendant may waive his right to counsel without consulting his attorney. In Brewer, supra, the defendant was convicted of murder in the abduction of a 10-year-old girl which occurred in Des Moines, Iowa. After turning himself in to authorities in Davenport, Iowa, two days after the child's disappearance, the defendant Williams was formally charged with abduction. Williams, an escaped mental patient, conferred in person with an attorney in Davenport and by telephone with his attorney in Des Moines. Both attorneys told Williams to make no statement during the ride from Davenport back to Des Moines and that the police had agreed not to question him. During the ride, Williams indicated that he would give the police a statement after he spoke with his attorney upon arrival in Des Moines. Nonetheless, during the ride one of the officers coaxed Williams into revealing the site of the child's grave. The Supreme Court ruled that at that time, Williams was entitled to the assistance of counsel. Although Williams apparently understood his right to counsel,  waiver requires not merely comprehension but relinquishment, and Williams' consistent reliance upon the advice of counsel in dealing with the authorities refutes any suggestion that he waived that right. 430 U.S. at 404, 97 S.Ct. at 1242. (Emphasis added.) The Court stated further: The Court of Appeals did not hold, nor do we, that under the circumstances of this case Williams could not, without notice to counsel, have waived his rights under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments. It only held, as do we, that he did not. [ Id. at 405-06, 97 S.Ct. at 1243 (footnote omitted) (emphasis in original).]