Opinion ID: 1330908
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Wilder's Statement

Text: Wilder contends that, because he had invoked his right to counsel at the bond hearing on the initial five counts of forgery, his uncounseled statement taken in connection with the June 6 forgery should have been suppressed. We disagree. This issue was recently addressed by the United States Supreme Court in McNeil v. Wisconsin , ___ U.S. ___, 111 S.Ct. 2204, 115 L.Ed. (2d) 158 (1991). In McNeil , the defendant, arrested for armed robbery, invoked his sixth amendment right to counsel during his bail hearing. Subsequently, he was questioned concerning a murder, not related to the armed robbery. After being advised of his Miranda rights, he gave a full account of his involvement in the murder. Like Wilder, McNeil argued his statement should have been suppressed, in that his courtroom appearance with an attorney for the [first] crime constituted an invocation of the Miranda right to counsel, and that any subsequent waiver of that right during police-initiated questioning regarding any offense was invalid. ___ U.S. at ___, 111 S.Ct. at 2207, 115 L. Ed. (2d) at 166. The Court disagreed, distinguishing the sixth amendment right to counsel in judicial proceedings from the fifth amendment Miranda-Edwards right to counsel in a custodial setting. The sixth amendment right to counsel is offense-specific, so that [i]t cannot be invoked once for all future prosecutions, for it does not attach until a prosecution is commenced.... ___ U.S. at ___, 111 S.Ct. at 2207, 115 L.Ed. (2d) at 166-67. On the other hand, the fifth amendment right is not offense-specific: once a suspect invokes the Miranda right to counsel for interrogation regarding one offense, he may not be reapproached regarding any offense unless counsel is present. ___ U.S. at ___, 111 S.Ct. at 2208, 115 L.Ed. (2d) at 168. Accordingly, the invocation of the sixth amendment right to counsel that attaches at a judicial proceeding, such as a bond hearing, does not evolve into a Miranda-Edwards request for counsel during custodial interrogations on a separate charge. 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. ___ U.S. at ___, 111 S.Ct. at 2209, 115 L.Ed. (2d) at 168. Here, Wilder's sixth amendment right to counsel attached at the initial bond hearing relative the first five forgeries. However, invocation of this right was offense-specific and did not extend to the June 6 forgery for which he was convicted. Wilder never requested counsel during the custodial interview; indeed, he explicitly waived all fifth amendment protection. Under McNeil , his constitutional rights were not infringed, and his statement was properly admitted at trial.