Court Opinion

ID: 9591402
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 00:04:02.694155+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:11:21.418290
License: Public Domain

MATTHEWS, Chief Justice,
with whom RABINO WITZ, Justice, joins, dissenting.
I agree that Zsupnik was denied her right to telephone access under AS 12.25.-150(b). That statute unambiguously provides persons arrested with the right to communicate with an attorney, relative or friend “immediately” after arrest, making no distinction between attorneys and non-attorneys. However, I do not agree that exclusion of the breath test is an appropriate remedy.
The exclusionary remedy is not expressly provided for by statute, nor is it compelled by legislative history.1 It is a judicially created remedy first announced in Copelin v. State, 659 P.2d 1206, 1214 (Alaska 1983). In Copelin, we applied the “Sundberg analysis”, Id. at 1214, which is a method for determining whether to apply a “judicially created exclusionary rule” in the absence of a legislative directive. See State v. Sundberg, 611 P.2d 44, 50-51 (Alaska 1980).
A judicially created exclusionary rule does not necessarily apply to all violations of the underlying right. See United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. 897, 906, 104 S.Ct. 3405, 3412, 82 L.Ed.2d 677 (1984) [whether the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule applies “is ‘an issue separate from the question whether the Fourth Amendment rights of the party ... were violated.’ ”] Instead, whether the exclusionary sanction is appropriate in a given case is “resolved by weighing the costs and benefits” of depriving the state of relevant evidence. Id. at 906-07, 104 S.Ct. at 3411-12.
In Copelin, we identified two benefits obtained by suppression of evidence where the defendant is denied a pre-test phone call to his attorney: (1) deterrence of future illegal police conduct; and (2) prevention of state interference with the defendant’s ability to present a defense at trial. 659 P.2d at 1214-15. These benefits were held to outweigh the state’s interest in obtaining relevant evidence, so long as the attempted communication did not unreasonably interfere with the police investigation. Id. There being no such interference, exclusion was found to be appropriate. Id.
As today’s opinion points out, the first objective (deterrence) is advanced regardless of whether the person who the arres-tee desires to contact is an attorney. However, the second objective (prevention of interference with defense decisions), is advanced, if at all, only minimally if the person to be contacted is not a lawyer and the subject of the desired conversation does *364not relate to obtaining legal advice.2
Given the inapplicability of the second purpose, the court of appeals reasoned that the state’s interest in obtaining highly relevant evidence was, on balance, of more weight, and concluded therefore that AS 12.25.150(b) was not violated. Zsupnik v. State, 772 P.2d 1098, 1099 (Alaska App.1989). I agree with the balance struck by the court of appeals and take issue only with the fact that the court of appeals engaged in balancing in deciding whether the statute was violated rather than at the next step in the analysis where the question is what remedy shall be imposed.
The importance of the right to counsel aspect of Copelin should not be underestimated. In the context of tactical defense decisions which must be made in response to in-custody investigatory procedures, the United States Supreme Court has stated that “[t]he ‘guiding hand of counsel’ [is] essential.” Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U.S. 478, 486, 84 S.Ct. 1758, 1762, 12 L.Ed.2d 977 (1964). Our decision in Copelin cites Escobedo and quotes at length from the Minnesota Supreme Court case of Prideaux v. State Department of Public Safety, 310 Minn. 405, 247 N.W.2d 385 (1976), to further explain the importance of counsel when making “complicated decision[s]” immediately after arrest. Since the assistance of non-attorneys is not of similar importance, there is not as much to be gained by imposing the exclusionary rule in this context.
Moreover, extension of the rule announced in Copelin to the non-attorney context could be very costly in terms of added loss in law enforcement. Copelin only slightly extended protections that defendants previously had as a result of the United States Supreme Court s decision m Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981). In Edwards, the court held that under the federal constitution, custodial interrogation of the defendant must cease when the defendant expresses a desire to contact counsel. Id. at 484-85, 101 S.Ct. at 1884-85. Therefore, under Edwards, denial of the defendant’s request for contact with counsel results in exclusion of subsequent statements obtained by further police interrogation. Id. at 485, 101 S.Ct. at 1885.
The exclusionary rule adopted in Copelin merely requires exclusion of other types of evidence, such as breath tests, when the defendant’s request for counsel is denied. Our decision in Copelin should not be understood as taking the novel, and potentially drastic, step of requiring exclusion when the defendant is denied contact with a non-attorney.3 In this regard, it is important to note that AS 12.25.150(b) applies to all crimes, not simply misdemeanor DWI prosecutions. Thus, today’s decision risks the exclusion of reliable evidence of heinous crimes in situations where there has been no serious interference with the defendant’s ability to prepare her defense.
In conclusion, I distinguish this case from Copelin because the benefits to be gained from an exclusionary rule in this type of case are of less weight, and the risks in terms of added loss in law enforcement effectiveness are much greater. For these reasons I would affirm the decision of the court of appeals.

. The statute expressly provides for criminal and civil remedies, AS 12.25.150(c) and (d), but does not require exclusion of evidence obtained as a result of a violation.

. For example, a call to a layperson to obtain bail may indirectly assist a defendant in presenting her defense. However, a non-attorney is typically incapable of soundly advising the defendant on immediate matters which may prove to be critical defense decisions; whether to submit to a breath test or obtain alternative tests, whether to submit to police interrogation, and so forth.

. I think that today's opinion mistakenly attributes significance to the state’s concession that Zsupnik subjectively intended to contact counsel through her uncle. Absent an objectively manifested request for contact with counsel, application of the exclusionary rule is not warranted. Cf. Edwards, 451 U.S. at 484, 101 S.Ct. at 1884-85 (custodial interrogation may continue, and defendant’s responses are admissible at a later trial, unless and until the defendant “expressed] his desire to deal with the police only through counsel" (emphasis added)).