Opinion ID: 1936463
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Fifth and Sixth Amendment Concerns

Text: Tart claims that his right to counsel under both the Fifth and Sixth Amendment was violated by police interrogation and that his September 11, 1989 and September 13, 1989 confessions obtained in violation of these rights should have been suppressed. A brief restatement of the facts is helpful to this discussion: Suppression hearing testimony from police officers established Tart was picked up for questioning September 7, 1989, after a report that he was in possession of jewelry. He was given Miranda warnings at 1:30 p.m. and at 3 p.m. He authorized a limited permission to search his bedroom which was additionally authorized by his stepmother. Officers executing the permission to search found more jewelry in Tart's bedroom. He was arrested for possession of stolen property in the afternoon. Tart appeared before a judge for a 72-hour hearing on the charge of possession of stolen property on Monday, September 11, 1989. At this time bond was set but no counsel was appointed. The assistant district attorney handling the case remembers Tart stating he was going to make bond; it was the trial judge's procedure not to appoint counsel if the defendant could make bond or if he wanted to obtain retained counsel. R.Vol. 4, p. 743-751; Defendant's Brief, Ex. 2 Deposition of J. Joyce, p. 10. The trial judge knew that Tart was a possible suspect in the Quenan homicides, in that police were conducting further investigation. Defendant's Brief, Ex. 1 Transcript of September 11, 1989 Bench Conference; Ex. 2 Deposition of J. Joyce, p. 3, 6. Later on September 11, 1989, the police obtained information about other jewelry connected to Tart from Willie Jean and Ruffin Mason. This, plus the jewelry previously obtained from Tart's bedroom which had been identified as belonging to Ms. Robertson, led officers to question Tart further that evening. After orally administering Miranda rights, police officers obtained an unrecorded oral confession from Tart admitting to burglaries of the Berry, Robertson, and Quenan residences. Police officers agreed Tart thereafter refused to give a recorded statement and invoked his right to counsel. Tart was arrested for burglary at 7:30 p.m. Later that evening, Tart's half-brother made a statement to police which incriminated him in the Quenan homicides. On September 12, 1989, jewelry obtained from Kendale Leonard the previous day was identified as belonging to the Quenans. On September 13, 1989, Tart, through Sneed, initiated contact with police officers and confessed to the Quenan homicides. Tart was arrested for two counts of first degree murder. He appeared before a judge for a 72-hour hearing on the first degree murder charges on September 14, 1989. Tart was indicted by the grand jury on two counts of first degree murder on September 21, 1989. R.Vol. 4, p. 745. At trial, the same testimony was provided with the exception that one of the officers involved in the investigation, Sgt. Burrell, testified Tart requested an attorney after officers spoke to him at 3 p.m. on September 7, 1989. R.Vol. 7, p. 1318-1319. The record shows this officer may have been confused by the several arrests and multiple statements. Whether Tart requested counsel on September 7, 1989, or later on September 11, 1989, affects the Fifth Amendment analysis. These assignments of error will be analyzed using both dates.