Court Opinion

ID: 9429288
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:26:19.459226+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:20:03.990372
License: Public Domain

Justice Marshall,
with whom Justice Brennan, Justice Blackmun, and Justice Stevens join,
dissenting.
Because in my view the plurality has misapplied Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U. S. 477 (1981), I respectfully dissent.
I
In Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U. S. 436 (1966), this Court recognized that “[ujnless adequate protective devices are employed to dispel the compulsion inherent in custodial surroundings, no statement obtained from the defendant can truly be the product of his free choice. ” Id., at 458. Access to counsel was held essential to secure the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. “If the individual states *1052that he wants an attorney, the interrogation must cease until an attorney is present.” Id., at 474 (emphasis added). Miranda thus created a “rigid rule that an accused’s request for an attorney is per se an invocation of his Fifth Amendment rights, requiring that all interrogation cease.” Fare v. Michael C., 442 U. S. 707, 719 (1979).
The significance of the invocation of the right to counsel is premised in part on a lawyer’s “unique ability to protect the Fifth Amendment rights of a client undergoing custodial interrogation.” Ibid. As Justice White has written:
“[T]he reasons to keep the lines of communication between the authorities and the accused open when the accused has chosen to make his own decisions are not present when he indicates instead that he wishes legal advice with respect thereto. The authorities may then communicate with him through an attorney. More to the point, the accused having expressed his own view that he is not competent to deal with the authorities without legal advice, a later decision at the authorities’ insistence to make a statement without counsel’s presence may properly be viewed with skepticism.” Michigan v. Mosley, 423 U. S. 96, 110, n. 2 (1975) (concurring in result).
Although an accused may waive his various Miranda rights and submit to interrogation, the Court has recognized that “additional safeguards are necessary when the accused asks for counsel.” Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U. S., at 484. Edwards held that a valid waiver of the right to counsel cannot be established by showing only that the accused responded to further police-initiated custodial interrogation, even if he had again been advised of his rights. Ibid. An accused who invokes his right to counsel is not subject to further interrogation until counsel has been made available, “unless the accused himself initiates further communication, exchanges, or conversations with the police.” Id., at 484-485. *1053To establish a waiver, it would thus be a “necessary fact that the accused, not the police, reopened the dialogue with the authorities.” Id., at 486, n. 9 (emphasis added).
In this case, respondent invoked his right to have counsel during custodial interrogation. Shortly thereafter, he asked a police officer, “Well, what is going to happen to me now?” The Oregon Court of Appeals concluded that respondent’s question was not “a waiver of his right to counsel, invoked only minutes before, or anything other than a normal reaction to being taken from the police station and placed in a police car, obviously for transport to some destination.” 54 Ore. App. 949, 953, 636 P. 2d 1011, 1013 (1981). Relying on Edwards, the Oregon court held that respondent had not initiated the subsequent interrogation.
The Oregon Court of Appeals properly applied Edwards.1 When this Court in Edwards spoke of “initiat[ing] further communication” with the police and “reopen[ing] the dialogue with the authorities,” it obviously had in mind communication or dialogue about the subject matter of the criminal investigation. The rule announced in Edwards was designed to ensure that any interrogation subsequent to an invocation of the right to counsel be at the instance of the accused, not the authorities. 451 U. S., at 485. Thus, a question or state*1054ment which does not invite further interrogation before an attorney is present cannot qualify as “initiation” under Edwards. To hold otherwise would drastically undermine the safeguards that Miranda and Edwards carefully erected around the right to counsel in the custodial setting.
The safeguards identified in Edwards hardly pose an insurmountable obstacle to an accused who truly wishes to waive his rights after invoking his right to counsel. A waiver can be established, however, only when the accused himself reopens the dialogue about the subject matter of the criminal investigation. Since our decision in Edwards, the lower courts have had no difficulty in identifying such situations. See, e. g., McCree v. Housewright, 689 F. 2d 797 (CA8 1982) (defendant initiated reinterrogation by knocking on cell door and telling police officer that he wanted to make a statement); United States v. Gordon, 655 F. 2d 478 (CA2 1981) (defendant reopened dialogue by expressing a desire to provide information about someone else who should also be arrested); State v. Brezee, 66 Haw. 163, 657 P. 2d 1044 (1983) (defendant asked detective to come back to his cell and then expressed desire to make a statement); Payne v. State, 424 So. 2d 722 (Ala. Crim. App. 1982) (defendant asked for a meeting with police at which statements were made); People v. Thomas, 98 Ill. App. 3d 852, 424 N. E. 2d 985 (1981) (defendant initiated further communication by inquiring about accomplice’s statements linking him to the crime), cert. denied, 456 U. S. 993 (1982); State v. Pittman, 210 Neb. 117, 313 N. W. 2d 252 (1981) (defendant initiated further conversation by stating that he was being “railroaded” by his codefendants).2
*1055> — I I — I
I agree with the plurality that, in order to constitute “initiation” under Edwards, an accused’s inquiry must demonstrate a desire to discuss the subject matter of the criminal investigation. Cf. ante, at 1045. I am baffled, however, at the plurality’s application of that standard to the facts of this case. The plurality asserts that respondent’s question, “[W]hat is going to happen to me now?”, evinced both “a willingness and a desire for a generalized discussion about the investigation.” Ante, at 1045-1046. If respondent’s question had been posed by Jean-Paul Sartre before a class of philosophy students, it might well have evinced a desire for a “generalized” discussion. But under the circumstances of this case, it is plain that respondent’s only “desire” was to find out where the police were going to take him. As the Oregon Court of Appeals stated, respondent’s query came only minutes after his invocation of the right to counsel and was simply “a normal reaction to being taken from the police station and placed in a police car, obviously for transport to some destination.” 54 Ore. App., at 953, 636 P. 2d, at 1013.3 On these facts, I *1056fail to see how respondent’s question can be considered “initiation” of a conversation about the subject matter of the criminal investigation.
To hold that respondent's question in this case opened a dialogue with the authorities flies in the face of the basic purpose of the Miranda safeguards. When someone in custody asks, “What is going to happen to me now?”, he is surely responding to his custodial surroundings. The very essence of custody is the loss of control over one’s freedom of movement. The authorities exercise virtually unfettered control over the accused. To allow the authorities to recommence an interrogation based on such a question is to permit them to capitalize on the custodial setting. Yet Miranda’s procedural protections were adopted precisely in order “to dispel the compulsion inherent in custodial surroundings.” 384 U. S., at 458.
Accordingly, I dissent.

 In rebuking the Oregon Court of Appeals for failing to distinguish between the initiation of a conversation and a valid waiver of the right to counsel, ante, at 1044, the plurality is attacking a straw man. Because it concluded that respondent had not initiated any conversation, the Oregon court never even undertook the distinct inquiry into the existence of a knowing and intelligent waiver. Edwards makes clear that, in the absence of “initiation” by an accused, there can be no valid waiver regardless of whatever else the accused may say or do. 451 U. S., at 484. Having concluded that respondent did not initiate further conversation, the Oregon court thus stated that there was no valid waiver in this ease. This conclusion is entirely consistent with Edwards. Indeed, the Oregon court’s decision contains lengthy quotations from Edwards. Unless we are to assume that the state court did not read the very portions of Edwards that it quotes, the plurality’s attack is completely unjustified.

 In his opinion concurring in the judgment, Justice Powell suggests that there is confusion as to whether Edwards announced a per se rule. Ante, at 1047. In my view, Edwards unambiguously established such a rule. See 451 U. S., at 484-486, and n. 9. In any event, no confusion on this point can remain after today’s decision for eight Justices manifestly agree
*1055that Edwards did create a per se rule. The plurality explicitly refers to the “prophylactic rule” of Edwards. Ante, at 1044. See also ante, at 1044-1045 (discussing the “Edwards rule”). The rule is simply stated: unless the accused himself initiates further communication with the police, a valid waiver of the right to counsel cannot be established. If an accused has himself initiated further communication with the police, it is still necessary to establish as a separate matter the existence of a knowing and intelligent waiver under Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U. S. 458, 464 (1938). The only dispute between the plurality and the dissent in this case concerns the meaning of “initiation” for purposes of Edwards’ per se rule.

 The plurality seems to place some reliance on the police officer’s reaction to respondent’s question. The officer described his response as follows:
“I says, ‘You do not have to talk to me. You have requested an attorney and I don’t want you talking to me unless you so desire because anything you say — because—since you have requested an attorney, you know, it has to be at your own free will.’ I says, T can’t prevent you from talking, but *1056you understand where your place — you know, where your standing is here?’ and he agreed. He says T understand.’ ”
As the officer’s testimony indicates, respondent’s statement was at best ambiguous. In any event, as the Oregon Court of Appeals noted, the officer clearly took advantage of respondent’s inquiry to commence once again his questioning — a practice squarely at odds with Edwards. See 54 Ore. App., at 953, 636 P. 2d, at 1013.