Opinion ID: 1162168
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: FAILURE OF UNDERCOVER AGENT TO GIVE Miranda WARNINGS

Text: (4) The only non-hearsay objection to the admissibility of evidence of the Kramers' admissions to the undercover agent who posed as a jailhouse friend of Leach (see ante, p. 426) which has been pursued on appeal is the rather preposterous contention that the undercover agent should, prior to insinuating himself into the confidences of the Kramers, have delivered to them the Miranda warnings normally required as a concomitant of arrest. This claim is premised on the assumption that the authorities already had probable cause to arrest the Kramers at the time of their conversations with the undercover officer. The existence of such probable cause assertedly imposed upon the investigating officer the duty to inform the Kramers of their rights to counsel and to remain silent. (See Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436, 479 [16 L.Ed.2d 694, 726, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 10 A.L.R.3d 974]; People v. Dorado (1965) 62 Cal.2d 338, 358-364 [42 Cal. Rptr. 169, 398 P.2d 361].) We disagree. While arrest is not a condition precedent to the right to Miranda and Dorado warnings, custody is: the vice requiring the prophylaxis of the notice of rights is the inherently coercive atmosphere pervading custodial interrogation. ( People v. Arnold (1967) 66 Cal.2d 438, 448 [58 Cal. Rptr. 115, 426 P.2d 515].) Since at the time of their admissions the Kramers were not restrained in any way or under any color of custody, and indeed were unaware that they were even talking to an agent of the state, any coercion operating on the Kramers was not attributable to their being in custody. A fortiori, there was no violation of the Kramers' right to counsel, which attaches independently of Miranda and Dorado only after the indictment of the accused. ( Massiah v. United States (1964) 377 U.S. 201, 206 [12 L.Ed.2d 246, 250, 84 S.Ct. 1199]; People v. Mabry (1969) 71 Cal.2d 430, 441 [78 Cal. Rptr. 655, 455 P.2d 759].)