holding that statements elicited from a defendant in violation of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), can be introduced to impeach that defendant’s credibility, even though they are inadmissible as evidence of his guilt, so long as the jury is instructed accordingly
How later courts described this case
- holding that statements elicited from a defendant in violation of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), can be introduced to impeach that defendant’s credibility, even though they are inadmissible as evidence of his guilt, so long as the jury is instructed accordingly
- stating that voluntary statements inadmissible in the prosecutor’s case-in-chief because of Miranda violations may be used nonetheless to impeach a defendant’s credibility, “provided of course that the trustworthiness of the evidence satisfies legal standards”
- stating that voluntary statements elicited in violation of Miranda are inadmissible in the prosecution’s case-in-chief but may be used to impeach a defendant’s credibility, “provided of course that the trustworthiness of the evidence satisfies legal standards”
- holding that statements elicited from defendant in violation of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 LEd.2d 694 (1966
Written by the judges who cited it.
Later courts went against this
Reported abrogated by Missouri v. Seibert, 542 U.S. 600 (2004) — not on the Supreme Court's list
Our colleagues in the Fifth Appellate District concluded that nothing in Seibert abrogated the Harris impeachment rule: “[T]he [plurality] opinion cites Harris only once in a footnote, Justices Kennedy and O’Connor cite Harris but once each in their concurring and dissenting opinions, . . . and none of those three references criticizes the case. [Citation.
Reported disapproved — as noted by a later court — not on the Supreme Court's list
Accordingly, we overrule Nudd and declare that Harris is not persuasive authority ... in California.”1 (16 Cal.3d at p. 113, italics added.
unconfirmed confidenceQuestioned by People v. Peevy, 17 Cal. 4th 1184 (1998)
Our research has disclosed no criminal case holding that the Harris rule is inapplicable when an officer deliberately violates Edwards—absent other misrepresentations or coercive behavior on the part of the police that renders the defendant’s statements involuntary.
Declined to follow by People v. Disbrow, 16 Cal. 3d 101 (1976)
Accordingly, we overrule Nudd and declare that Harris is not persuasive authority in any state prosecution in California.14
Declined to follow by United States v. Milton Nussen, 531 F.2d 15 (1976)
At the outset we must reject Harris as controlling authority.
Distinguished
Distinguished by Garcia v. State, 1992 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 60 (1992)
Specifically, we held that the federal rule allowing impeachment of criminal defendants with confessions obtained in violation of the Fifth Amendment’s warning rule, Harris v. New York, 401 U.S. 222, 91 S.Ct. 643, 28 L.Ed.2d 1 (1971), was inapplicable to oral statements taken in violation of Article 38.22 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, because our statute did not contemplate an exception for purposes of imp…
Distinguished by United States v. Williams, 23 M.J. 362 (1987)
Finally, from the language of Mil.R.Evid. 304 and the Drafters’ Analysis, it appears that Harris is inapplicable where the statement to be offered in rebuttal was “obtained in violation of” Article 31(b)’s warning requirement.
Distinguished by Donahue v. State, 10 Fla. L. Weekly 518 (1985)
In our opinion, Harris is inapposite to the case at bar.
Distinguished by People v. Gonyea, 421 Mich. 462 (1985)
Secondly, we note that Harris is factually inapposite.
The opinion
Mr. Chief Justice Burger
delivered the opinion of the Court.
We granted the writ in this case to consider petitioner’s claim that a statement made by him to police under circumstances rendering it inadmissible to establish the prosecution’s case in chief under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U. S. 436 (1966), may not be used to impeach his credibility.
The State of New York charged petitioner in a two-count indictment with twice selling heroin to an under *223 cover police officer. At a subsequent jury trial the officer was the State’s chief witness, and he testified as to details of the two sales. A second officer verified collateral details of the sales, and a third offered testimony about the chemical analysis of the heroin.
Petitioner took the stand in his own defense. He admitted knowing the undercover police officer but denied a sale on January 4, 1966. He admitted making a sale of contents of a glassine bag to the officer on January 6 but claimed it was baking powder and part of a scheme to defraud the purchaser.
On cross-examination petitioner was asked seriatim whether he had made specified statements to the police immediately following his arrest on January 7 — statements that partially contradicted petitioner’s direct testimony at trial. In response to the cross-examination, petitioner testified that he could not remember virtually any of the questions or answers recited by the prosecutor. At the request of petitioner’s counsel the written statement from which the prosecutor had read questions and answers in his impeaching process was placed in the record for possible use on appeal; the statement was not shown to the jury.
The trial judge instructed the jury that the statements attributed to petitioner by the prosecution could be considered only in passing on petitioner’s credibility and not as evidence of guilt. In closing summations both counsel argued the substance of the impeaching statements. The jury then found petitioner guilty on the second count of the indictment. 1 The New York Court of Appeals affirmed in a per curiam opinion, 25 N. Y. 2d 175, 250 N. E. 2d 349 (1969).
At trial the prosecution made no effort in its case in chief to use the statements allegedly made by petitioner, *224 conceding that they were inadmissible under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U. S. 436 (1966). The transcript of the interrogation used in the impeachment, but not given to the jury, shows that no warning of a right to appointed counsel was given before questions were put to petitioner when he was taken into custody. Petitioner makes no claim that the statements made to the police were coerced or involuntary.
Some comments in the Miranda opinion can indeed be read as indicating a bar to use of an uncounseled statement for any purpose, but discussion of that issue was not at all necessary to the Court’s holding and cannot be regarded as controlling. Miranda barred the prosecution from making its case with statements of an accused made while in custody prior to having or effectively waiving counsel. It does not follow from Miranda that evidence inadmissible against an accused in the prosecution’s case in chief is barred for all purposes, provided of course that the trustworthiness of the evidence satisfies legal standards.
In Walder v. United States, 347 U. S. 62 (1954), the Court permitted physical evidence, inadmissible in the case in chief, to be used for impeachment purposes.
“It is one thing to say that the Government cannot make an affirmative use of evidence unlawfully obtained. It is quite another to say that the defendant can turn the illegal method by which evidence in the Government’s possession was obtained to his own advantage, and provide himself with a shield against contradiction of his untruths. Such an extension of the Weeks doctrine would be a perversion of the Fourth Amendment.
“[T]here is hardly justification for letting the defendant affirmatively resort to perjurious testimony in reliance on the Government’s disability to challenge his credibility.” 347 U. S., at 65 .
*225 It is true that Walder was impeached as to collateral matters included in his direct examination, whereas petitioner here was impeached as to testimony bearing more directly on the crimes charged. We are not persuaded that there is a difference in principle that warrants a result different from that reached by the Court in Walder . Petitioner's testimony in his own behalf concerning the events of January 7 contrasted sharply with what he told the police shortly after his arrest. The impeachment process here undoubtedly provided valuable aid to the jury in assessing petitioner’s credibility, and the benefits of this process should not be lost, in our view, because of the speculative possibility that impermissible police conduct will be encouraged thereby. Assuming that the exclusionary rule has a deterrent effect on proscribed police conduct, sufficient deterrence flows when the evidence in question is made unavailable to the prosecution in its case in chief.
Every criminal defendant is privileged to testify in his own defense, or to refuse to do so. But that privilege cannot be construed to include the right to commit perjury. See United States v. Knox, 396 U. S. 77 (1969); cf. Dennis v. United States, 384 U. S. 855 (1966). Having voluntarily taken the stand, petitioner was under an obligation to speak truthfully and accurately, and the prosecution here did no more than utilize the traditional truth-testing devices of the adversary process. 2 Had *226 inconsistent statements been made by the accused to some third person, it could hardly be contended that the conflict could not be laid before the jury by way of cross-examination and impeachment.
The shield provided by Miranda cannot be perverted into a license to use perjury by way of a defense, free from the risk of confrontation with prior inconsistent utterances. We hold, therefore, that petitioner’s credibility was appropriately impeached by use of his earlier conflicting statements.
Affirmed.
Me. Justice Black dissents.
No agreement was reached as to the first count. That count was later dropped by the State.
If, for example, an accused confessed fully to a homicide and led the police to the body of the victim under circumstances making his confession inadmissible, the petitioner would have us allow that accused to take the stand and blandly deny every fact disclosed to the police or discovered as a “fruit” of his confession, free from confrontation with his prior statements and acts. The voluntariness of the confession would, on this thesis, be totally irrelevant. We reject such an extravagant extension of the Constitution. Compare Killough v. United States, 114 U. S. App. D. C. 305, 315 F. 2d 241 (1962).