Court Opinion

ID: 9784798
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 20:54:07.372048+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:35:59.412958
License: Public Domain

Justice SAYLOR,
dissenting.
The majority determines that, for purposes of the Sixth Amendment, a state policeman did not deliberately elicit incriminating information from Appellant after he had invoked his right to counsel. See Majority Opinion at 485-86, 12 A.3d at 325. I respectfully differ with this conclusion.
At the time the trooper approached Appellant accompanied by three other government agents, Appellant’s hands and feet were shackled, and he complained of a lack of sleep. See N.T., Nov. 10, 2004 (a.m.), at 25-26. In the dialogue that ensued, Appellant was advised that his chosen counsel would not represent him and, likely, he would have no access to another lawyer for several days. In this setting, and despite Appellant’s express, serial invocations of his right to counsel — the trooper: encouraged Appellant to tell police “his side of the story,” id. at 28; indicated that it was “the right decision” and “wise” to do so, id. at 27, 29; cautioned that another individual who failed to tell his side of the story “ended up getting the death penalty” and was “on death row,” even where he “did not pull the trigger,” id. at 29, 44; and explained that, although Appellant’s attorney probably would advise him not to speak to police, the decision would be Appellant’s alone. See id. at 28-29.
*519At argument before the suppression court, the prosecutor acknowledged that, in the above-described remarks, the trooper was encouraging Appellant to talk to police, with the caveat that the trooper sought to address only future, counseled cooperation. See N.T., Nov. 10, 2004 (p.m.), at 13, 19. The prosecutor also conceded that the trooper “said things that struck a responsive chord” and may have employed “subtle compulsion.” Id. at 13-14. He emphasized, however, that there were no threats, tricks, or cajoling, as he believed would be necessary to result in a constitutional violation.
For purposes of the Sixth Amendment, once a defendant invokes his right to counsel, that invocation is to be honored by law enforcement. In this regard, the Sixth Amendment has been said to guarantee the accused the right to rely on counsel as a “medium” between him and the government, and law enforcement officers have an “affirmative obligation not to act in a manner that circumvents and thereby dilutes [this] protection.” Maine v. Moulton, 474 U.S. 159, 171, 176, 106 S.Ct. 477, 484, 487, 88 L.Ed.2d 481 (1985). Furthermore, the United States Supreme Court has admonished that “knowing exploitation by the State of an opportunity to confront the accused without counsel being present is as much a breach of the State’s obligation not to circumvent the right to the assistance of counsel as is the intentional creation of such an opportunity.” Id. at 176, 106 S.Ct. at 487. As the majority recognizes, the “deliberate elicitation” litmus established for purposes of the Sixth Amendment is a lower one than the interrogation threshold under the Fifth Amendment, which was the subject of Rhode Island v. Innis, 446 U.S. 291, 100 S.Ct. 1682, 64 L.Ed.2d 297 (1980). See Fellers v. U.S., 540 U.S. 519, 524-25, 124 S.Ct. 1019, 1022-23, 157 L.Ed.2d 1016 (2004).1
Here, by the Commonwealth’s own admission, the trooper did exploit his encounter with Appellant in the absence of *520counsel. It very well may be that the trooper intended the effect would be postponed to a time when counsel would be present. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the trooper overtly sought to counteract advice he anticipated counsel would provide, going so far as to suggest that Appellant’s adherence to such advice would yield a greater likelihood of his receiving a sentence of death. Cf. State v. Emery, 131 Ariz. 493, 642 P.2d 838, 847-48 (1982) (finding that officers’ discussion of the gas chamber with a defendant who had invoked his Miranda rights represented “impermissible conduct by police,” and that officers should have known such remarks were reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response). Moreover, while I am not an expert in human psychology, I believe the majority underestimates the impact of employing the prospect of the death penalty to encourage a statement (future or not) from a prisoner in state custody who is: accused of killing two law enforcement officers; in the presence of four government agents; shackled; complaining of a lack of sleep; seeking counsel to serve in the medium role; and apprised that it will be several days before counsel will be made available. Again, I also do not see why it should matter, for Sixth Amendment purposes, that the intended effect of the trooper’s exploitation of the circumstances may have occurred prematurely.
As I believe the trial court erred in denying suppression, I would remand for a determination by that court, in the first instance, as to whether such error may be deemed harmless.

. The United States Supreme Court has recently altered the path of Sixth Amendment jurisprudence concerning the point at which a bright-line prohibition against uncounseled interrogation (and presumably any lesser deliberate elicitation) attaches. See Montejo v. *520Louisiana, 556 U.S. 778, -, 129 S.Ct. 2079, 2091, 173 L.Ed.2d 955 (2009) (overruling Michigan v. Jackson, 475 U.S. 625, 106 S.Ct. 1404, 89 L.Ed.2d 631 (1986)). The holding of Montejo is not directly relevant here, but I recognize that some of its reasoning suggests a majority of Justices on the High Court may be inclined to further reorder the prevailing scheme of protections for the right to counsel. Nevertheless, I am in agreement with the majority here concerning the general parameters of the presently extant principles we are bound to enforce, as set forth above.