Opinion

Kuhlmann v. Wilson

  • 477 U.S. 436
  • 54 U.S.L.W. 4809
  • 106 S. Ct. 2616
  • 91 L. Ed. 2d 364
  • 1986 U.S. LEXIS 65
Court
Supreme Court of the United States
Filed
Jun 26, 1986
Status
Published
Author
Burger
On the bench
Powell Announced the Judgment of the Court And
Cited by
1,053 cases
Authority
More cited than 24.2%

Reported superseded by statute, as recognized in Banister v. Davis — not on the Supreme Court's list

stating that to show a violation of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), a petitioner for habeas corpus “must demonstrate that the police and their informant took some action, beyond merely listening, that was designed deliberately to elicit incriminating remarks.”

How later courts described this case

  • stating that to show a violation of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), a petitioner for habeas corpus “must demonstrate that the police and their informant took some action, beyond merely listening, that was designed deliberately to elicit incriminating remarks.”
  • holding that “the defendant must demonstrate that the police and their informant took some action, beyond merely listening, that was designed deliberately to elicit incriminating remarks”
  • concluding that defendant's right to counsel not violated under Henry where police placed informant in defendant's cell because informant obeyed instructions not to question defendant, but merely to listen for information
  • holding that no Sixth Amendment violation had occurred where the defendant's statements to the informant were volunteered and the volunteering of the information was precipitated by events beyond the informant's control

Written by the judges who cited it.

Later courts went against this

  • Reported superseded by statute, as recognized in Banister v. Davis — not on the Supreme Court's list

    477 U.S. 436, 459 , superseded by statute as stated in Banister v. Davis (2020) __ U.S. __ [ 140 S.Ct. 1698, 1709, fn. 8
    Supreme Court of the United StatesJun 1, 2020by statuteunconfirmed confidenceRead it

The opinion

Chief Justice BURGER,

concurring.

I agree fully with the Court’s opinion and judgment. This case is clearly distinguishable from United States v. Henry, 447 U. S. 264 (1980). There is a vast difference between placing an “ear” in the suspect’s cell and placing a voice in the cell to encourage conversation for the “ear” to record.

Furthermore, the abuse of the Great Writ needs to be curbed so as to limit, if not put a stop to, the “sporting contest” theory of criminal justice so widely practiced today.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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