Court Opinion

ID: 9662366
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 23:06:57.841324+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:15:46.420013
License: Public Domain

*353Wilkie, C. J.
(dissenting in 'part). My disagreement with the majority opinion is limited to the handling of the Miranda warning. I would hold that the warning, as given by the officer here, was inadequate. I, therefore, would reverse and remand for a new trial on the basis of all of the evidence exclusive of the confession given by the defendant.
It is crucial that the warning given indicate clearly to the defendant that he has a right to a court-appointed attorney before and during his interrogation. The warning given here was entirely too fuzzy and did not adequately convey this essential message.
A case holding such a warning improper is the Seventh Federal Circuit Court of Appeals decision of United States ex rel. Williams v. Twomey.1 The defendant was told he had the right to consult an attorney prior to questioning, but was also informed that he had a right to court-appointed counsel “if and when you go to court.”2 In reversing defendant’s conviction, the court said:
“We hold that the warning given here was not an ‘effective and express explanation;’ to the contrary, it was equivocal and ambiguous. In one breath appellant was informed that he had the right to appointed counsel during questioning. In the next breath, he was told that counsel could not be provided until later. In other words, the statement that no lawyer can be provided at the moment and can only be obtained if and when the accused reaches court substantially restricts the absolute right to counsel previously stated; it conveys the contradictory alternative message that an indigent is first entitled to counsel upon an appearance in court at some unknown, future time. The entire warning is therefore, at best, misleading and confusing and, at worst, constitutes a subtle temptation to the unsophisticated, indigent accused to forego the right to counsel at this critical moment.
“The practice of police interrogation of an accused, after informing him that counsel cannot be provided at *354the present time, is a practice anticipated and expressly prohibited by the Miranda decision.
“ . . if police propose to interrogate a person they must make known to him that he is entitled to a lawyer and that if he cannot afford one, a lawyer will be provided for him prior to any interrogation. If authorities conclude that they will not provide counsel during a reasonable period of time in which investigation in the field is carried out, they may refrain from doing so without violating the person’s Fifth Amendment privilege .so long as they do not question him during that time.’ Miranda, 384 U. S. 436 at 474, 86 S. Ct. 1602 at 1628,16 L. Ed. 2d 694 at 724.
“Consistent with the above, many courts encountering similarly qualified warnings have recognized them as deficient. See United States v. Garcia, 431 F. 2d 134 (9 Cir. 1970); Lathers v. United States, 396 F. 2d 524 (5 Cir. 1968) ; Sullins v. United States, 389 F. 2d 985 (10 Cir. 1968) ; Fendley v. United States, 384 F. 2d 923 (5 Cir. 1967); Square v. State, 283 Ala. 548, 219 So. 2d 377 (1969); Reese v. State, 462 P. 2d 331 (Okl. Cr. 1969) ; State v. Creach, 77 Wash. 2d 194, 461 P. 2d 329 (Wash. 1969).”3
The court’s rationale is equally applicable to the case at bar.
If the Miranda warning is to adequately apprise the defendant of his rights, it must be clear, and inform the defendant beyond any doubt of his constitutional right to court-appointed counsel prior to interrogation. The warning here falls short of what is required by Miranda, and Jones should now be retried on the basis of all of the evidence except the confession gained after the inadequate warning was given.
I am authorized to state that Mr. Justice DAY joins in this dissent.

 (7th Cir. 1972), 467 Fed. 2d 1248.

 Id. at pages 1249, 1260, note 1.

 Id. at pages 1250, 1251. See also: Wright v. North Carolina (1974), 415 U. S. 936, 94 Sup. Ct. 1452, 39 L. Ed. 2d 494, notes 1 and 3.