Opinion ID: 1858937
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: October 7, 1988/October 11, 1988 Invocation of Fifth or Sixth Amendment Right?

Text: The United States Supreme Court recently addressed the distinction between the Fifth and Sixth Amendment right to counsel in the case of McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U.S. ___, 111 S.Ct. 2204, 115 L.Ed.2d 158 (1991). Paul McNeil was arrested in Omaha, Nebraska, on a warrant charging him with an armed robbery in West Allis, Wisconsin. Soon after his arrest, two sheriff's deputies from Wisconsin sought to question McNeil and advised him of his Miranda rights. McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U.S. ___, ___, 111 S.Ct. 2204, 2206, 115 L.Ed.2d 158, 165 (1991). McNeil refused to answer any questions, but he did not request counsel. The deputies promptly ended the interview. McNeil had his initial appearance in Wisconsin on the armed robbery charge and was represented by a public defender. McNeil, 501 U.S. at ___, 111 S.Ct. at 2206, 115 L.Ed.2d at 165. On the evening of his initial appearance, McNeil was visited by a detective who was investigating a murder, attempted murder, and an armed burglary in Caledonia, Wisconsin, in which McNeil was a suspect. McNeil, 501 U.S. at ___, 111 S.Ct. at 2206, 115 L.Ed.2d at 165. The detective advised McNeil of his Miranda rights, and on this occasion McNeil signed a waiver form. McNeil indicated that he knew of the Caledonia crimes, but he denied any involvement. Two days later, the detective returned. The detective again advised McNeil of his Miranda rights, which McNeil waived. This time, McNeil admitted that he was involved in the Caledonia crimes, and he implicated two other men, Willie Pope and Lloyd Crowley. Another two days passed, and the detective returned after being convinced that McNeil wrongfully implicated Pope. The interview began with Miranda warnings; and, once again, McNeil signed a waiver form. On the next day, McNeil was charged with the Caledonia crimes. McNeil's motion to suppress the three incriminating statements was denied, and he was eventually convicted and sentenced to sixty (60) years for the Caledonia crimes. McNeil, 501 U.S. at ___, 111 S.Ct. at 2207, 115 L.Ed.2d at 166. In a nutshell, McNeil argued that his initial courtroom appearance with an attorney for the West Allis armed robbery constituted an invocation of his Fifth Amendment Miranda right to counsel, thereby making invalid his three subsequent waivers of that right from police-initiated questioning pertaining to the Caledonia crimes. McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U.S. ___, ___, 111 S.Ct. 2204, 2207, 115 L.Ed.2d 158, 166 (1991). The Court noted that when McNeil provided the incriminating statements of the Caledonia crimes, his Sixth Amendment right to counsel, with respect to the West Allis armed robbery, had been invoked when he made his initial courtroom appearance with an attorney. However, the United States Supreme Court rejected McNeil's argument that invocation of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel on the West Allis charge extended to an invocation of his Fifth Amendment Miranda right to counsel on the Caledonia crimes. McNeil, 501 U.S. at ___, 111 S.Ct. at 2208, 115 L.Ed.2d at 168. The U.S. Supreme Court noted that the Sixth Amendment right is  offense-specific.  The Sixth Amendment right, however, is offense-specific. It cannot be invoked once for all future prosecutions, for it does not attach until a prosecution is commenced, that is, `at or after the initiation of adversary judicial criminal proceedings  whether by way of formal charge, preliminary hearing, indictment, information, or arraignment.' United States v. Gouveia, 467 U.S. 180, 188 [104 S.Ct. 2292, 2297, 81 L.Ed.2d 146] (1984) (quoting Kirby v. Illinois, 406 U.S. 682, 689 [92 S.Ct. 1877, 1882, 32 L.Ed.2d 411] (1972) (plurality opinion)). And just as the right is offense-specific, so also its Michigan v. Jackson effect of invalidating subsequent waivers in police-initiated interviews is offense-specific. McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U.S. ___, ___, 111 S.Ct. 2204, 2207, 115 L.Ed.2d 158, 166-67 (1991). Because petitioner provided the statements at issue here before his Sixth Amendment right to counsel with respect to the Caledonia offenses had been (or even could have been) invoked, that right poses no bar to the admission of the statements in this case. McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U.S. ___, ___, 111 S.Ct. 2204, 2208, 115 L.Ed.2d 158, 167 (1991). In contrast with the Sixth Amendment right, once an accused invokes a Miranda Fifth Amendment right to counsel regarding one offense, he may not be reapproached regarding any offense unless counsel is present. Arizona v. Roberson, 486 U.S. 675, 108 S.Ct. 2093, 100 L.Ed.2d 704 (1988). McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U.S. ___, ___, 111 S.Ct. 2204, 2208, 115 L.Ed.2d 158, 168 (1991). The McNeil Court explained the distinction between the Fifth and Sixth Amendment right to counsel: The purpose of the Sixth Amendment counsel guarantee  and hence the purpose of invoking it  is to protec[t] the unaided layman at critical confrontations with his expert adversary, the government, after the adverse positions of government and defendant have solidified with respect to a particular alleged crime. Gouveia, 467 U.S., at 189 [104 S.Ct., at 2298]. The purpose of the Miranda-Edwards guarantee, on the other hand  and hence the purpose of invoking it  is to protect a quite different interest: the suspect's desire to deal with the police only through counsel, Edwards [ v. Arizona ], 451 U.S. [477], at 484 [101 S.Ct. 1880, 1884, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981)]. This is in one respect narrower than the interest protected by the Sixth Amendment guarantee (because it relates only to custodial interrogation) and in another respect broader (because it relates to interrogation regarding any suspected crime and attaches whether or not the adversarial relationship produced by a pending prosecution has yet arisen). To invoke the Sixth Amendment interest is, as a matter of fact, not to invoke the Miranda-Edwards interest. One might be quite willing to speak to the police without counsel present concerning many matters, but not the matter under prosecution. It can be said, perhaps, that it is likely that one who has asked for counsel's assistance in defending against a prosecution would want counsel present for all custodial interrogation, even interrogation unrelated to the charge. That is not necessarily true, since suspects often believe that they can avoid the laying of charges by demonstrating an assurance of innocence through frank and unassisted answers to questions. But even if it were true, the likelihood that a suspect would wish counsel to be present is not the test for applicability of Edwards. The rule of that case applies only when the suspect ha[s] expressed  his wish for the particular sort of lawyerly assistance that is the subject of Miranda. Edwards, supra, at 484 [101 S.Ct., at 1884] (emphasis added). It requires, at a minimum, some statement that can reasonably be construed to be expression of a desire for the assistance of an attorney in dealing with custodial interrogation by the police. Requesting the assistance of an attorney at a bail hearing does not bear that construction. McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U.S. ___, ___, 111 S.Ct. 2204, 2208-09, 115 L.Ed.2d 158, 168-69 (1991). Clearly, McNeil reinforced that there is no equivalence between invocation of the Sixth Amendment right of counsel and the invocation of the Fifth Amendment right of counsel derived from Miranda. McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U.S. ___, ___, 111 S.Ct. 2204, 2209, 115 L.Ed.2d 158, 169 (1991) (citing Michigan v. Jackson, 475 U.S. 625, 106 S.Ct. 1404, 89 L.Ed.2d 631 (1986)). See Willie v. State, 585 So.2d 660, 666 (Miss. 1991). McNeil is instructive for the case at bar for the following reason. Simply put, McNeil helps us to understand which constitutional right Balfour invoked, and when. As McNeil emphasizes, requesting assistance of counsel at an initial appearance or bail hearing to defend the pending charge is not the same type of invocation of counsel contemplated by the Fifth Amendment Miranda-Edwards interest against compulsory self-incrimination, which is associated with police-initiated custodial interrogations. McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U.S. ___, ___, 111 S.Ct. 2204, 2209, 115 L.Ed.2d 158, 168 (1991); Willie v. State, 585 So.2d 660, 666 (Miss. 1991). In order to invoke the Fifth Amendment right against compulsory self-incrimination, i.e., what McNeil describes as the Miranda-Edwards interest, then some expression of a desire for the assistance of an attorney in dealing with custodial interrogation by the police,  is required. McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U.S. ___, ___, 111 S.Ct. 2204, 2209, 115 L.Ed.2d 158, 169 (1991). Therefore, in order to find a Fifth Amendment violation, we look for some expression by Balfour indicating her desire to have counsel present at custodial interrogations. Balfour made the requisite expression at the time of her arrest on October 7, 1988, when Investigators Creekmore Wright and Kenny Dickerson attempted to question her. Balfour asked for an attorney at that time and stated that she was not going to sign any papers or answer any questions without having a lawyer present. See Balfour v. State I, 580 So.2d 1203, 1208 (Miss. 1991). It seems equally clear that on the morning of October 11, 1988, when Balfour made her initial appearance, it was her Sixth Amendment right which she invoked at that time. This becomes apparent from a review of the record of the initial appearance on Balfour's capital murder charge. The initial appearance on October 11, 1988, related only to the capital murder charge and not the robbery charges. In response to questions from Judge Barbee, Balfour indicated a desire for representation and an interest to contact her family to ascertain their progress in hiring a lawyer for her. As this Court observed in Balfour I, Susie Balfour invoked her right to counsel on two occasions: Balfour requested counsel on at least two occasions, the first time being when she was arrested on October 7, when two patrolmen questioned her. In her testimony, which was not refuted, Balfour stated she asked for an attorney. The bright-line rule of Minnick [ v. Mississippi, ___ U.S. ___, 111 S.Ct. 486, 112 L.Ed.2d 489 (1990)] warns that once the right to counsel is invoked, all questioning at the initiation of the State must cease. Id. At the time of arrest, she refused to either sign a Waiver of Rights form or give a statement. Four days later, she made her initial appearance in the DeSoto County Court. At that hearing, she again invoked her right to counsel. She advised the judge that she wanted an attorney. Balfour v. State I, 580 So.2d 1203, 1208 (Miss. 1991). As we consider the constitutionality of Balfour's confession under Fifth and Sixth Amendment standards, we do so against the backdrop of our scope of review. Determining whether a confession is admissible is a finding of fact which is not disturbed unless the trial judge applied an incorrect legal standard, committed manifest error, or the decision was contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Willie v. State, 585 So.2d 660, 665 (Miss. 1991); Berry v. State, 575 So.2d 1, 4 (Miss. 1990), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 111 S.Ct. 2042, 114 L.Ed.2d 126 (1991).