Court Opinion

ID: 9771897
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 16:58:22.35699+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:39.290089
License: Public Domain

PALMORE, Judge
(dissenting).
I dissent upon the ground that, in my opinion, showing the incriminating ballistics report to the appellant after he had expressed his desire for counsel was tantamount to further interrogation.
“If * * * he indicates in any manner and at any stage of the process that he wishes to consult with an attorney before speaking there can be no questioning. Likewise, if the individual is alone and indicates in any manner that he does not wish to be interrogated, the police may not question him.” Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444-445, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1612, 16 L.Ed.2d 694, 706-707 (1966).
“Once warnings have been given, the subsequent procedure is clear. If the individual indicates in any manner, at any time prior to or during questioning, that he wishes to remain silent, the interrogation must cease. At this point he has shown that he intends to exercise his Fifth Amendment privilege; any statement taken after the person invokes his privilege cannot be other than the product of compulsion, subtle or otherwise. Without the right to cut off questioning, the setting of in-custody interrogation operates on the individual to overcome free choice in producing a statement after the privilege has been once invoked. If the individual states that he wants an attorney, the interrogation must cease until an attorney is present. At that time, the individual must have an opportunity to confer with an attorney and to have him present during any subsequent questioning.” (Emphasis added.) Id., at 384 U.S. 474, 86 S.Ct. 1627-1628, 16 L.Ed.2d 723.
*86The majority opinion evades Miranda by holding that in merely supplying “information” to the appellant the police sergeant was not questioning him. It seems to me, however, that such an interpretation is un-tenably narrow. The purpose of a question is to get an answer. Anything else that has the same purpose falls in the same category and is susceptible of the same abuses Miranda seeks to prevent. The only possible object of showing the ballistics report to the appellant in this case was to break him down and elicit a confession from him. The question was implied if not spoken. Everything was there but a question mark. It was a form of question and got the desired result.
I am just as loath to hold incriminating evidence inadmissible as are the other members of this court. But Miranda is the law and, as such, should be construed dispassionately and fairly. Whether we like it or not is beside the point. A civilized society cannot survive under a system in which each man obeys only those laws and decisions that he personally judges to be right. Above all, the courts themselves should be the first exemplars of law and order.
MILLIKEN, J., joins in this dissenting opinion.