Opinion ID: 1993666
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Statement To Lieutenant Richardson

Text: When defendant came to the Woonsocket police station with Laliberte at approximately 1 a.m. on October 8, 1987, he attempted to attract the attention of Patrolman Warot. He first did so by stating to Warot either himself or through Laliberte that they had a problem and wished to see a counselor. Patrolman Warot replied that there were no counselors at the station. Apparently defendant then stated that he did not need a counselor but an attorney. At this point defendant was not detained, nor was any interrogation directed toward him. Indeed, the officer really was paying little or no attention to defendant and Laliberte but was instead busily engaged in typing. The defendant first attracted Warot's attention by saying, I'm the one you are looking for. I'm the sniper. This statement was volunteered and was not the product of any interrogation, express or implied. At this point defendant and Laliberte were conducted into the conference room of Lieutenant Richardson. Richardson advised defendant of his Miranda rights in this room for the first time. The defendant stated at that point, I'm responsible for eleven shootings. He followed this statement by a request for an attorney. On the basis of this encounter, defendant asserts that his statement to Lieutenant Richardson should have been suppressed. He relies upon the fact that his statement to Warot in the outer office constituted a request for counsel. A justice of the Superior Court held on a motion to suppress that this statement was admissible in the circumstances in which it was given. We agree with the pretrial justice. The case of Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981), holds that after a suspect who is under interrogation requests an attorney, that interrogation must cease and interrogation may not be reinitiated by the police unless the suspect initiates the conversation and in the course thereof makes a knowing and intelligent waiver of his right to counsel. Oregon v. Bradshaw, 462 U.S. 1039, 103 S.Ct. 2830, 77 L.Ed.2d 405 (1983). The question raised by defendant's contention concerning the admission made to Lieutenant Richardson is whether the first suggestion by defendant that he needed an attorney rather than a counselor constituted the type of request for counsel that underlies the holding in Edwards and its progeny. We believe that it does not. At the time of the first mention of an attorney, defendant was not in custody, nor was he being interrogated. He was merely trying to get the attention of Officer Warot. Neither the request for a counselor nor the adversion to an attorney made any sense whatever to the patrolman. It was not until defendant blurted out that he was the sniper that Warot showed any more than minimal interest in either him or Laliberte. We are of the opinion that defendant's offhand statement about either a counselor or an attorney did not constitute a type of unequivocal request for counsel in an atmosphere of in-custodial interrogation to which Edwards made reference. Consequently we believe that the first effective demand for counsel was made to Lieutenant Richardson after the Miranda rights had been explained and after defendant had blurted out that he was responsible for eleven shootings. Therefore, the pretrial justice's refusal to suppress this statement was not erroneous. B