Court Opinion

ID: 9497310
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 16:48:07.518615+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:58:07.103280
License: Public Domain

SILER, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur in all of the conclusions by the majority, except those conclusions that the petitioner, Kevin Mark Abela, was denied his constitutional right to counsel under the Fifth Amendment, and that a writ of habeas corpus should issue unless the state elects to retry Abela for the same charges. The constitutional violation which the majority finds is the introduction at trial of a statement allegedly made in violation of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). I would find that there was no constitutional violation. Therefore, I would affirm the district court in denying the writ.
Abela’s statement to the officers before he was advised of his Miranda rights was “maybe I should talk to an attorney by the name of William Evans.” Sgt. Michael McCabe offered to call Evans or another attorney, but before Sgt. McCabe attempted to call Evans or anyone else, he proceeded to advise Abela of his Miranda rights. It was at this point when Abela said that he would tell them everything, and did not ask for the right to consult with Evans or any other attorney. As the district court found, Abela’s statements do not constitute an unequivocal request for counsel as required under Davis v. United States, 512 U.S. 452, 458-59, 114 S.Ct. 2350, 129 L.Ed.2d 362 (1994). In Davis, the accused made a similar request that “maybe I should talk to a lawyer.” The Court held that was not an unambiguous request for counsel. I would not hold that a specific naming of an attorney in this case distinguishes the facts sufficient to find a Mirand a violation. See Ledbetter v. Edwards, 35 F.3d 1062, 1070 (6th Cir.1994) (holding that the statement that “It would be nice” to have an attorney was not a clear and unambiguous request for counsel). Although the majority opinion relates that Abela handed Sgt. McCabe a business card for Evans and that McCabe left the room with the card to phone the attorney, the district court did not find those facts. Instead, Abela testified that the card was in his wallet, which was in another room. He said that McCabe left the room after he told him about the card, but McCabe did not say anything about the card nor the attorney after that. Sgt. McCabe testified that Abela pulled out a business card from his wallet and showed it to McCabe, but McCabe did not say anything about leaving the room with the card to phone the attorney. Therefore, I would find that the facts determined by the district court below were not clearly erroneous, and I would uphold the decision by the district court that no Miranda violation occurred.
*932In sum, I would affirm the decision of the district court in denying the writ of habeas corpus.