# Petitioners Brief — Edwards v. Arizona

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## Record

- **Collection:** Supreme Court brief
- **Document type:** Petitioners Brief
- **Published:** January 1, 1981
- **Citation:** 451 U.S. 477

## Text

Supreme Court, U. S.
FILED
L. No. 79-5269
JUL2 1980
MICHAEL RODAK, JR.,
IN THE —

Supreme Court of the United States

OCTOBER TERM, 1979

ROBERT EDWARDS, Petitioner,

THE STATE OF ARIZONA, Respondent.

On Writ Of Certiorari To The Arizona Supreme Court

BRIEF FOR PETITIONER

MICHAEL J. MEEHAN

Post Office Box 2268
Tucson, Arizona 85702
(602) 622-3531

Court-appointed Attorney
for Petitioner

anlar od eS ES MEE TER

PRESS OF BYRON S. ADAMS PRINTING, INC., WASHINGTON, DLC.

eee -

es =

QUESTIONS PRESENTED FOR REVIEW

Whether the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments
require suppression of a post-arrest confession, which was ob-
tained after Edwards had asked to consult counsel before fur-
ther interrogation; which resulted from a jail house interroga-
tion that Edwards objected to but was compelled to attend
after being held incommunicado; and where the interrogation
was instigated by the detectives who timed the questioning to
occur just hours before they knew he was to be provided ap-
pointed counsel.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Confession Should Have Been Excluded
Because It Was Obtained In Violation Of The
Fifth And Sixth Amendment Protections
Elaborated In Miranda v. Arizona............

A. The presence of counsel is essential in the
setting of custodial interrogation as a
means of insuring that constitutional rights
a OS ge hu oe ie 8 ol ks ks cues

B. A request for counsel must operate as an
absolute bar to police-initiated reinterroga-
tion, until counsel has been provided .....

C. Some jurisdictions do allow renewed inter-
rogations by the authorities after a request
for counsel, but close analysis reveals that
this is not the better rule ................

The Confession Should Have Been Suppressed
Because It Was Taken In Violation Of Ed-
wards’ Sixth Amendment Right To Counsel,
Which Had Arisen Because Formal Prosecution
Had Begun Before The Jail Interrogation. .....

The Fourteenth Amendment Guaranties Of Due
Process, Requiring That All Stages Of The Pro-
secution Be Conducted Within Traditional And
Accepted Notions Of Fundamental Fairness,

PREVIOUS PAGE WAS BLANK

13

15

17

24

28

iv
Table of Contents Continued

PAGE

Prohibit The Use Of A Confession Obtained
After Prosecution Has Begun, Before The Ac-
cused Can Obtain Counsel’s Advice Or
Presetel i «co bc kee ha Kk a veces 37

IV. Even If There Could Be A Waiver After Ed-
wards Asked To Have A Lawyer And Told The
Jailor He Did Not Want To Speak With The
Detectives, The Record Does Not Permit A
Finding That A Waiver Occurred............. 47

CONCLUSION « oc oc 0 0 wees III Ea Soc coves 55

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

CASES: PAGE
Abeles v. State Bar, 108 Cal. Rptr. 359, 510 P.2d 719
SUNEOE ia-ek Vc Geen eka tae any Vier ceanees 44
Adams v. United States ex rel. McConn, 317 U.S. 269
iris Od dist eee ORL Eee eee 26
Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25 (1972) ........... 40, 45
rete %. CORD, Ge Ue GPF CR cnc oboe vcdeevasves 3
Biddy v. Diamond, 516 F.2d 118 (Sth Cir. 1975), cert.
Garland, GAS U3, FOO CIF F ok vce vivvcaccancvvenes 25
Blackburn v, Alabama, 361 U.S. 199 (1960) ........... 14
Blackledge v. Allison, 431 U.S. 63 (1977)...........05. 34
Blasingame v. Estelle, 604 F.2d 893 (Sth Cir. 1979) ..... 25
Bodenkircher v. Hayes, 434 U.S. 357 (1978), reh.
GON, BPe Ue BO CI i ook 645k vc bss cheaiaes 34
Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238 (1969) .............. 55
Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963)............005. 39
Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742 (1970) ........... 34
Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387 (1977) ............. passim
Brookhart v. Janis, 384 U.S. 1 (1966) ............0005- 48
Brown v. Mississippi, 297 U.S. 278 (1936) ............. 14
Carnley v. Cochran, 369 U.S. 506 (1962) .............. 48
Chambers v. Florida, 309 U.S. 227 (1940) ............. 14
Commonwealth v. Mercier, 451 Pa. 221, 302 A.2d 337
GOWN Gri icky cud CVs abusahe rou uer tera, 23
Commonwealth v. Murray, 359 Mass. 509, 269 N.E.2d
asi (acetic SERRE Ce rT ope Pete Saree 48
Commonwealth v. Whiting, 439 Pa. 205, 266 A.2d 738
CRONE hr 5 Chss eee thd ee Tee 31
Corbitt v. New Jersey, 439 U.S. 212 (1978) ............ 34

Coughlan v. United States, 391 F.2d 371 (9th Cir. 1968). 42

vi

Table of Authorities Continued

CASES: PAGE
Crooker v. California, 357 U.S. 433 (1958) .........05: 33
Culombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568 (1961) ........ 14, 33
Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610 (1976) ....... ce eee e eee 29, 39
Dyett v. People, 177 Colo. 370, 494 P.2d 94 (1972) ..... 49
Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U.S. 478 (1964) ........005 15, 29
Fare v. Michael C., 442 U.S. 707 (1979) ...........4. 16, 18
24, 48, 52
Haynes v. Washington, 373 U.S. 503 (1963) ........... 38
Holmes v. State, 300 A.2d 6 (Del. 1972). ...... 00.000 49
Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458 (1938) .......... 48, 51, 52
Kirby v. Illinois, 406 U.S. 682 (1973)... 0.0... 0c cece eens 29
Lisenba v. California, 314 U.S. 219 (1941).........005. 14
Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586 (1978) ........ 0c eee ees 3
Massiah v. United States, 377 U.S. 201 (1964) ........ passim
Mathies v. United States, 374 F.2d 312 (D.C. Cir.
ee el re eet ONC e bin a ag heave 41, 42
McLeod v. Ohio, 381 U.S. 356 (1965) ........ 0.000. 37, 44
Michigan v. Mosley, 423 U.S. 96 (1975)........ aan passim
Michigan v. Tucker, 417 U.S. 433 (1974) ......... 0005. 45
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966) ............ passim
Moore v. Illinois, 434 U.S. 220 (1977). .... 0... 0c eee ee 31

Moore v. State, 261 Ark. 274, 551 S.W,2d 185 (1977)... 20
Murphy vy. State, 336 So.2d 213 (Miss. 1976), cert.

To Aa ee ey ) a rn 20
Napue v. Illinois, 306 U.S. 264 (1959)......... 0. cee eee 39
Nash v. Estelle, 597 F.2d 513 (Sth Cir. 1979) (en banc).. 20
North Carolina v. Butler, 441 U.S. 369 (1979) ........ 48, 49

Vii

Table of Authorities Continued

CASES: PAGE
Oregon v. Mathiason, 429 U.S. 492 (1977)............. 38
Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U.S. 319 (1937)............. 45
People v. Bowers, 45 A.D.2d 241, 357 N.Y.S.2d 563
SOP tiaaied exdedd wee Veaelisus ca catruunek chee 20
People v. Brake, 191 Colo. 390, 553 P.2d 763 (1976).... 20

People v. Byers, 71 A.D.2d 77, 421 N.Y.S.2d 462 (1979) 49
People v. Cook, 78 Ill. App.3d 695, 397 N.E.2d 439

EN Aare e Bie ee eens ce heeeee seen 20
People v. Cunningham, 49 N.Y.2d 203, 424 N.Y.S.2d
Ge SU 504 05 ha sire ie eax ha ee ee 49

People v. Grant, 45 N.Y.2d 366, 380 N.E.2d 257 (1978). 49
People v. Green, 405 Mich. 273, 274 N.W.2d 448 (1979) 43

People v. Harris, 191 Colo. 234, 552 P.2d 10 (1976) .... 23
People v. Hobson, 39 N.Y.2d 479, 348 N.E. 2d 894
SE ee HN Va Pk ae kao oe 43
People v. Ireland, 75 Cal. Rptr. 188, 450 P.2d 580
SU 9 asl oe aA eS N 6 Lacks bhouaeene eh cuen 36, 49
People v. Medina, 37 Ill. App.3d 1029, 347 N.E.2d 424
SNS APR een Loa an yc Sadat toa eke oer 23
People v. Randall, 83 Cal. Rptr. 658, 464 P.2d 114
aa PE AESERS ON 6 os 600 oa Ce eee 28

People v. Salazar, 189 Colo. 429, 541 P.2d 676 (1975) .. 23
People v. Superior Court of Marin County, 118 Cal.

A Ge | rr ne ene 17
People v. Washington, 41 Ill. App.3d 475, 354 N.E.2d

Fel rset ee, 5 Re a ed, 28
Pirtle v. State, 263 Ind. 16, 323 N.E.2d 634 (1975)...... 50
Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45 (1932)................ 36
Reece v. Georgia, 350 U.S. 85 (1955)................. 39-40

Vili

Table of Authorities Continued

CASES: PAGE
Schaniz v. Eyman, 418 F.2d 11 (9th Cir. 1969) ......... 42
Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218 (1973) ...... 9, 48,

51, 52
Smith v. United States, 358 F.2d 833 (D.C. Cir. 1966) .. 36
Spano v. New York, 360 U.S. 315 (1959) ............ 38, 56
State v. Boone, 220 Kan. 758, 556 P.2d 864 (1976) ..... 20
State v. Crisler, 285 N.W.2d 679 (Minn. 1979) ......... 23

State v. Edwards, 122 Ariz. 206, 594 P.2d 72 (1979) ....1, 22
State v. Marcum, 24 Wash. App. 441, 601 P.2d 975

OSU GG cae Peale any h anes eek 23
State v. Nash, 407 A.2d 365 (N.H. 1979) ......... 18, 49, 52
State v. Nicholson, 77 Wash.2d 415, 463 P.2d 633
NE i Ut a steed Ret ad ca kee he sa eee en ewe hos 44
State v. Richmond, 114 Ariz. 186, 560 P.2d 41 (1976)... 44
State v. Stevenson, 523 S.W.2d 349 (Mo. 1975) ........ 28
State v. Travis, 26 Ariz. App. 24, 545 P.2d 986 (1976) .. 8
State v. Travis, 360 A.2d 548 (R.1. 1976) .............. 41
State v. Turner, 32 Ore. App. 61, 573 P.2d 326 (1978). 23, 41
State v. Watson, 120 Ariz. 441, 586 P.2d 1253 (1978) ... 3
State v. Yatman, 320 So.2d 401 (Fla. App. 1975)....... 43
Stevens v. State, 265 Ind. 396, 354 N.E.2d 727 (1976)... 20
Tague v. Louisiana, _-—~U.S. _____, (No. 79-5386,

RS MIE Dives oda 0 ny lathe 6 OR ee 48, 52
Thompson v. Wainwright, 601 F.2d 768 (Sth Cir.

Tae Wiciaey eh deta reeleeei lee ws heen ease 20, 50
Tollett v. Henderson, 411 U.S. 258 (1973) ............. 34

Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293 (1963)...........20055 14

ix
Table of Authorities Continued
CASES: PAGE

United States v. Ash, 413 U.S. 300 (1973)............ 32, 33

United States v. Blair, 470 F.2d 331 (Sth Cir. 1972) cert.
denied sub nom., Crews v. United States, 411 U.S.

WE UE Tic 4 5 Uy vad eden ore Os Oke Senwkcke ’ 22
United States v. Brady, 397 U.S. 742 (1970) ........... 34
United States v. Brown, 569 F.2d 236 (Sth Cir. 1978) (en

MR eds a Grek ee PEL Pea cok Cink nan 25
United States v. Clark, 499 F.2d 802 (4th Cir.

cea OES EE DER rrra pore a Coe yn eS 21, 48, 50
United States v. Cobbs, 481 F2d 196 (3d Cir. 1973), cert.

Gm, S04 US, FOO CISTI ono vivoin ves ve ve acccae 41
United States v. Cookston, 379 F.Supp. 487 (W.D. Tex.

WE Kak xs tiem dna WALda aie ko 55 be ak vos Se oi 41
United States v. Crisp, 435 F.2d 354 (7th Cir. 1970) cert.

denied, 402 U.S. 947 (1971)... 0... cece cece. 17

United States vy. Durham, 475 F.2d 208 (7th Cir. 1973) 41, 43
United States v. Four Star, 428 F.2d 1406 (9th Cir.

sy vei te ee vee ee ee ee ae 42
United States v. Grant, 549 F.2d 942 (4th Cir.), cert.
eon Me BE RE FS) rrr 25
United States v. Henry, U.S. (No.
79-121, Jume 1%, 198D)... oo. cc ecc. 29, 31, 32, 43, 54
United States v. Hernandez, 574 F.2d 1362 (Sth Cir.
a STE PE ce Say et iste Me ORL 28, 49
United States v. Hodge, 487 F.2d 300 (Sth Cir. 2 ee

United States v. Massey, 550 F.2d 300 (Sth Cir. wih)... 2
United States v. Masullo, 489 F.2d 217 (2d Cir. 1973)... 44

United States v. Miller, 432 F.Supp. 382 (E.D. N.Y.
1977), aff'd sub nom., United States v. Fernandez,
FER Wels NOPE COO CUE, FOTOD ovo og co noc vcnec cnn. 41

United States v. Nielsen, 392 F.2d 849 (7th Cir. 1968) . 50, 51

Table of Authorities Continued

CASES: PAGE

United States v. Pheaster, 544 F.2d 353 (9th Cir. 1976),
cert. denied sub nom., Inciso v. United States, 429
Ss, te a ee i ag ie eae a 25

United States v. Priest, 409 F.2d 491 (Sth Cir. 1969) .. 19, 20

United States ex rel. Robinson v. Zelker, 468 F.2d 159
(2nd Cir. 1972), cert. denied sub nom., Zeller v.
Pees, GUT BE. Fe TIS TSD oc ccc vce vecessvccs 31

United States v. Rodriquez-Gastelum, 569 F.2d 481 (9th
Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, 436 U.S. 919

SPT ras Sh tel ieed soe! a oe 24, 26, 27
United States v. Springer, 460 F.2d 1344 (7th Cir. 1972)
cert. denied, 409 U.S. 873 (1972) ...........008: 25, 40

United States ex rel. Stovall v. Denno, 355 F.2d 731 (2d
Cir. 1966), aff'd sub nom. Stovall v. Denno, 388

A cca ee iwa ka Cane Oeawek Ss 46
United States v. Thomas, 474 F.2d 110 (10th Cir. 1973). 43
United States v. Washington, 431 U.S. 181 (1977) ...... 35
United States v. Womack, 542 F.2d 1047 (9th Cir.

ae er ate a Me eae AL a We 21, 22, 28, 49
Von Moltke v. Gillies, 332 U.S. 708 (1948)........... 34, 54
Wardius v. Oregon, 412 U.S. 470 (1973).............. 38-39
Webb v. State, 258 Ark. 95, 522 S.W.2d 406 (1975) .... 20
White v. Finkbeiner, 611 F.2d 186 (7th Cir. 1979) ...... 25
Whitely v. Warden, 401 U.S. 560 (1971)..........0.00.. 36
CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY PROVISIONS:

United States Constitution, Fifth Amendment ....... passim
United States Constitution, Sixth Amendment ....... passim

United States Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment .. passim
I ye rade sedate bweavasscwen 2
Ariz. R. Crim. P. 2.2 (17 Ariz. Rev. Stat. Annot.) ..... 30

xi

Tabie of Authorities Continued

CASES: PAGE
Ariz. R. Crim. P. 2.3 (17 Ariz. Rev. Stat. Annot.) ..... 30
Ariz. R. Crim. P. 2.4 (17 Ariz. Rev. Stat. Annot.) ..... 30
Ariz. R. Crim. P. 3.1 (17 Ariz. Rev. Stat. Annot.) ..... 30
Ariz. R. Crim. P. 4.1 (17 Ariz. Rev. Stat. Annot.) ..... 30
Ariz. R. Crim. P. 4.2 (17 Ariz. Rev. Stat. Annot.) ..... 30
Ariz. R. Crim. P. 6.1(a) (17 Ariz. Rev. Stat. Annot.
See 36, 53
Ariz. R. Crim. P. 6.2(c) (17 Ariz. Rev. Stat. Annot.
ee 53
OTHER AUTHORITIES:
Te Ee 16
R. Aubrey and R. Caputo, Criminal Interrogation (\st
Bere 14
Canons of Professional Ethics, Canon 9.......... 42, 43, 44
Code of Professional Responsibility, DR 7-104 ....... 43, 45
Friendly, The Bill of Rights As A Code By Criminal
Procedure, 53 Cal. L. Rev. 929 (1965) ............ 46
Illinois Professional Ethics Opinion 320, 58 Ill. B.J. 139
i Pe 45
F. Inbau and J. Reid, Criminal Interrogation and Con-
Jeusboms CRG THB, Tee os vc ccccccccces 14

Kamisar, Brewer v. Williams, Massiah, and Miranda:
What Is ‘‘Interrogation’’? When Does It Matter? 67

Georgetown L.J. 1, 16, 17, 23 (1978) ............. 38
28 Oregon State Bar Bulletin, Opinion No. 155, P.10.,

Oct. S067... Scape... ke. 45
Texas Bar Opinion 144, 18 Baylor L. Rev. 195 (1966)... 45
Texas Bar Opinion 226, 18 Baylor L. Rev. 195 (1966)... 45

White, Police Trickery In Inducing Confessions, 127 U.
Pa. L. Row. de scacceecaes............. 38

IN THE
Supreme Court of the Anited States

OCTOBER TERM, 1979

No. 79-5269

ROBERT EDWARDS, Petitioner,

7;

THE STATE OF ARIZONA, Respondent.

On Writ Of Certiorari To The Arizona Supreme Court

BRIEF FOR PETITIONER

OPINIONS AND JUDGMENTS IN THE LOWER
COURTS

The opinion of the Arizona Supreme Court is
reported as State v. Edwards, 122 Ariz. 206, 594 P.2d
72 (1979).

2

STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION

The jurisdiction of this Court is invoked under 28
U.S.C. §1257(3), from a judgment of the Arizona
Supreme Court entered on March 27, 1979. A timely
Motion for Rehearing was denied by the Arizona
Supreme Court on May 2, 1979. On 18 July 1979, Mr.
Justice Stevens entered an order under this Court’s
Docket No. A-48, extending the time for filing the Peti-
tion for Writ of Certiorari to and including August 29,
1979. On July 20, 1979, the Pima County, Arizona,
Superior Court entered judgment pursuant to the
Arizona Supreme Court opinion, setting aside the
sentence of death it had previously imposed upon Peti-
tioner, and imposing a sentence of life imprisonment
upon him. A timely Petition for Writ of Certiorari was
filed on August 28, 1979.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS INVOLVED
The Constitution of the United States provides:

Amendment XIV: ‘* .. . nor shall any state deprive
any person of life, liberty, or property, without due
process of law, ...’’

Amendment V: ‘‘No person . . . shall be compelled
in any criminal case to be a witness against himself

””
.

AmendmentVI: ‘‘In all criminal prosecutions, the
accused shall enjoy the right ... to have the
Assistance of Counsel for his defense.”’

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

In October 1974, the ‘‘La Conga’’ bar in Tucson,
Arizona, was robbed at gunpoint, just as the proprietor
and a (bar maid) were closing for the evening. The pro-
prietor, 74 years old, suffered a fatal heart attack during
the robbery. Petitioner Robert Edwards was one of four
individuals implicated by a felon and heroin user named
Cleveland Reed, who was apprehendedy,during 1975 by
the Tucson police on other criminal charges and given
complete immunity from all prosecution related to the
La Conga bar incident. Edwards, a twenty-four year old
indigent black, was arrested on January 19, 1976, under
authority of a criminal complaint and an arrest warrant
charging him with murder, burglary and robbery. Ed-
wards was ultimately convicted of first degree felony
murder, as well as burglary and robbery. He was first
sentenced to death, but later given life imprisonment.'
One co-defendant was similarly convicted and sentenced,
while another was acquitted of felony murder by a jury,
and convicted of the burglary and robbery charges.
Cleveland Reed, of course, went completely free.

After Edwards’ arrest on January 19, 1976, he was
taken to the Tucson Police Station, and read his Miran-
da rights, which he said he understood (J.A. 71).? He

' The change in sentence was a result of the Arizona Supreme
Court, in State v. Watson, 120 Ariz. 441, 586 P.2d 1253 (1978), ap-
plying the decisions of this Court in Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586
(1978), and Bell v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 637 (1978), to invalidate certain
portions of the Arizona death sentencing statute.

* Reference to the Joint Appendix is by ‘‘J.A."’ followed by par-
ticular page numbers.

4

was interrogated over a period of about three hours by
Police Detective Sergeant Bunting and two other officers
(J.A. 149). The interrogation was for trial preparation
purposes, not to ‘‘solve’’ the case or for investigative
reasons. Bunting wanted to ‘‘obtain a statement to be
used in court ... against him.‘ (J.A. 39-40).

Bunting told Edwards the allegations that Reed and
Soto, another accused, had made against him (J.A. 38).°
Edwards then gave an alibi statement, which was tape
recorded and ultimately received in evidence at his trial.
He then spoke with the detectives about making a deal,
“if it will help him’’ (J.A. 39). He spoke briefly to a
prosecuting attorney by telephone and then said that he
would wait to make a deal until he had spoken to an at-
torney. As Sergeant Bunting testified, Edwards said,
“I’m going to wait until I get an attorney to make a
deal for me. I’m not going to make a deal now. I’m not
going to make a statement now. I’m going to wait until
I get my attorney.’’(J.A. 151.) After he and Edwards
went ‘‘back and forth‘ on this subject (J.A. 40), Bun-
ting then terminated his interrogation.

The trial judge concluded that the statements by
Edwards on the evening of his arrest constituted a claim
of the right to consult counsel before making any
statements. On appeal, the Arizona Supreme Court
agreed that Edwards had invoked his rights to remain
silent and to consult with counsel before breaking his
silence. The Arizona Supreme Court said, ‘‘{[L]ooking at

’ Some police officers’ testimony, including that just referenced,
used the name ‘‘Barefield’’ in speaking about Petitioner.

5

Edwards’ statement in the context made, that ... it
must be interpreted as a request for counsel and as a re-
quest to remain silent until counsel was present.’’ 594
P.2d at 77 (J.A. 16).

_ Edwards was taken from the police station to the
jail, where he was held in isolation overnight. Edwards
described it as ‘‘solitary ... a hole with slats in it’’
(J.A. 76). The next morning, a jail detention officer told
Edwards that detectives were there to see him. Edwards
said, ‘‘Il refused to come out of the hole. . . I told them
I didn’t want to talk to nobody.” (J.A. 77.) But the
detention officer ‘‘told me I had to talk to him’’. (ibid.)
Edwards was thereupon taken to a small, windowless in-
terview room in the interior of the County Jail where
Detectives Marmion and Milne were waiting to question
him.

These detectives worked for Detective Bunting, who
had questioned Edwards the day before. They said they
did not know that he had made the statement about an
attorney, although Milne knew Edwards had been inter-
rogated and ‘‘assumed he didn’t want to give a state-
ment at that time’’ (J.A. 65). Bunting, to whom Ed-
wards had made the request for counsel, had instructed
Detective Milne to go the jail to interview Edwards
(J.A. 96),* although he did not tell Milne of the prior

* This fact did not come to light at the pretrial motion to sup-
press, but was admitted by Milne at Edwards’ first trial (J.A. 96).
Bunting denied it, but it makes no difference because the inter-
rogating police are charged with Bunting’s knowledge. See note 24,
infra.

6

rogation and request for counsel. They knew that an at-
torney would not be appointed for him until the after-
noon. In Arizona, persons arrested on warrants issued
upon a felony complaint are brought before a
magistrate, and indigents like Edwards are assigned to
the public defender, or appointed counsel, at that time
(J.A. 42). The interrogating Detective Marmion and his
supervisor, Bunting, were aware of this and that Ed-
wards’ first appearance would occur at 1:30 p.m. after
Marmion had interrogated him (J.A. 42, 135-136).

As had been true of the evening before, the inter-
rogation was for use at trial, not for investigative pur-
poses. Marmion went out to the jail ‘‘to see what [Ed-
wards] was going to tell me on that particular day’’
(J.A. 51), and Milne was sent along to be ‘‘a witness to
any statements that he made’’ (J.A. 68).

Edwards was read his Miranda rights at the jail in-
terrogation. He told Marmion that he didn’t yet have an
attorney (J.A. 52). When asked at the supression hear-
ing before trial why he had not once again told these
detectives that he wanted an attorney, he responded, ‘‘I
didn’t think you had to keep asking for an attorney over
and over and over.”’ (J.A. 84.) According to the detec-
tives, whose testimony was credited by the trial court,
Edwards asked to hear the taped statements of Soto,
another of the accused, and some nine minutes or more
of the Soto tape recording was played to him. Edwards
then said he would tell the detectives what heppened but
would not give a taped statement (J.A. 123). Edwards
told Marmion he would not tape a statement because he

—

7

did not want the statement used against him in a court
later (J.A. 54). Marmion responded, ‘‘Big deal. There
are two of us. We can testify about it.’’ Edwards said,
‘*No, I don’t want to give one.’’ (J.A. 54.) But then he
made inculpatory statements, in which he described for
the detectives how the robbery was planned and carried
out. He said that he had gone into the bar, kept watch
over the barmaid during the robbery, and overheard
Cleveland Reed fire two shots, which apparently did not
strike anyone. He took the barmaid into the office of
the bar, where Reed and the bar owner were, and wat-
ched as Reed took money and some other articles of
property. Then the two of them, with the others, fled
(J.A. 124-125).

After leaving the interrogation room, Detective
Marmion tape recorded his recollections of the inter-
view, which he erased after preparing a standard written
report of the interrogation. On the afternoon of the day
that he had been interrogated at the jail over his objec-
tions, Edwards was appointed counsel at his initial court
appearance. Three or four days later, the detectives went
back to the jail to attempt to obtain a statement, but he
would not give one (J.A. 128).

At a hearing before trial, the court initially sup-
pressed the confession, holding that Edwards had exer-
cised his rights to remain silent and to have advice of
counsel before making any statements, and that this
decision had not been scrupulously honored by the
police (J.A. 92). The court felt it was significant that the
detectives knew that Edwards was about to be provided

8

appointed counsel, and also that the detectives, and not
Edwards, initiated the interrogation. Three days later,
the court changed its mind, on the basis of an Arizona
opinion that had not been earlier cited to it,’ and con-
cluded that this Court’s opinion in Michigan v. Mosley,
423 U.S. 96 (1975), permitted the police conduct that
obtained the confession (J.A. 95). The court concluded
that Edwards’ statement at the jail had been voluntary
(J.A. 91, 95), but did not find that Edwards had waived
his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights.

It took two trials to convict Edwards, there having
been one mistrial when the jurors could not reach a ver-
dict. At his second trial, Marmion and Milne testified to
the incriminating statements made by Edwards, as they
had at his first trial (J.A. 124,142). Edwards did not
testify, but in the final argument urged the jury to find
that he had not confessed.°

On appeal, Edwards reasserted his Fifth and Sixth
Amendment claims, which had first been raised at the
pretrial suppression hearing, that the confession should
have been suppressed. As has been noted, the Arizona
Supreme Court agreed that, on the evening of his arrest,
Edwards had invoked his rights to remain silent and to
have counsel before making further statements. Over
dissent, however, it concluded that Edwards’ Miranda
rights and his Sixth Amendment rights were honored. It
concluded that the ‘‘totality of circumstances’’ volun-

* State v. Travis, 26 Ariz. App. 24, 545 P.2d 986 (1976).

° With the aid of advisory counsel, Edwards conductd much of
his own defense.

9

tariness test of Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218
(1973), applied and was satisifed. It therefore held that
the confession was properly admitted (J.A. 18-19).

SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT

This case depends upon four critical facts. First,
when Robert Edwards was arrested, the police thought
this case to have been solved. They were not in-
vestigating when they interrogated him, but instead were
seeking evidence usable in court. Secondly, the police in-
terrogations under consideration occurred after the State
of Arizona had formally begun prosecution of Edwards.
A complaint had been filed which, under Arizona law,
was one of two ways of formally commencing a felony
prosecution. Thus, this case must be determined under
those rules that apply where a prosecution is ongoing,
and the responsibility of the courts to insure a fair trial
has begun. Third, as both the trial court and the
Arizona Supreme Court found, Edwards did ask to be
afforded counsel on the evening of his arrest. Thus, that
part of the doctrine of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S.
436 (1966), was invoked which imposes stricter burdens
upon the State, when an accused has asked for counsel.
Finally, after Edwards had been jailed overnight, his in-
terrogation the next day was initiated by the police who
knew that he would shortly get a lawyer. Edwards did
not want to talk to the police.

The following argument analyzes three constitu-
tional guaranties that were involved in this case, in a
somewhat parallel manner but derived from separate

10

portions of the Constitution. If properly applied in this
case, each of them independently prohibits the reception
of this confession into evidence and precludes an argu-
ment that Edwards waived his Fifth, Sixth and Four-
teenth Amendment rights by acquiescing to the State’ re-
quest to talk with the detectives. The final section of the
argument deals with the issue of waiver, if that is
necessary.

In Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), this
Court established a flat prohibition against further ques-
tioning of an accused who is in custody, if he asks for
the assistance of counsel. The unqualified nature of such
a rule has been reiterated by this Court in later cases.
The better reasoned cases from the Courts of Appeal
and the state courts also impose such a flat rule against
the police reinterrogating a suspect who has asked for
counsel but not yet received it. Where an accused in
custody has asked for counsel, he has recognized that he
needs help in dealing with the authorities and, therefore,
the need for protecting the privilege against self-
incrimination discussed in Miranda and succeeding cases
is greater because of the acknowledged vulnerability of
this particular accused who has asked for a lawyer. In
addition, at least in cases like this one where the inter-
rogation is for use at trial, and not to solve the crime,
any hardship or inconvenience to the law authorities is
minimal, if such inconvenience is relevant. All that need
occur is for the police to leave the accused alone for
several hours or a day or so, until he can consult with
counsel. In any event, this case only seeks such a rule

11

against interrogations initiated by the police. Under pro-
per circumstances, where an accused changes his mind
after asking for a lawyer, reinterrogations may be per-
mitted. That situation is not here at issue.

Secondly, Petitioner had a Sixth Amendment right
to the assistance of counsel which arose by virtue of the
fact that criminal prosecution had commenced against
him. Thus, his interrogation was a critical pretrial stage,
for which he was entitled to a lawyer’s assistance. Peti-
tioner’s need for a lawyer was especially great in this
case because one possibility that was available to Ed-
wards was plea bargaining. Before Edwards could ob-
tain his counsel and attempt such bargaining, however,
the intentional interrogation by the detectives had ob-
tained what they would other wise have been bargaining
for, his confession usable in court. This case is very
similar to Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387 (1977), ex-
cept that in Brewer the accused had already consulted
with counsel. Here, Edwards had not. Far from that be-
ing a ground not to find that the right to counsel had
attached and was violated, it is all the more reason to
hold that the interrogation by the police at the county
jail violated Edwards’ right to counsel.

A third constitutional violation stems from the fact
that the police intentionally reinterrogated Edwards
before he could obtain appointed counsel. Where the in-
terrogation is carried out after the commencement of
prosecution, the due process clause applies with greater
force, to insure that the accused receives fundamental
fairness in all aspects of a trial and in all pretrial critical

12

stages. Most courts conclude that the deliberate inter-
rogation of an accused without telling his counsel is im-
proper and unethical. Others find it to be grounds for
excluding his confession. The pervasive disapproval of
such interrogations, at least where the accused has not
requested to speak to law officers, demonstrates the
widespread recognition of unfairness which makes out a
violation of the due process clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment. Thus, just as the State may not knowingly
make use of perjured testimony, or knowingly fail to
give a defendant favorable evidence, it may not carry
Out an interrogation after formal prosecution has begun,
with all the potential for deception, psychological
gamesmanship and trickery that normally is involved in
such interrogations, unless defense counsel is given an
opportunity to be present, assist the accused and even
the stakes.

Finally, the record in this case will not support a
waiver. To prove waiver of Sixth Amendment right to
counsel, there must be a very high showing of the inten-
tional relinquishment of a known right; that it was ex-
pressly waived. The burden of proving that an accused
has given up the right to counsel is the same high stan-
dard as for establishing that other constitutional rights
affecting the fairness of a trial, such as the right to a
jury or to confront the witnesses against him were waiv-
ed. There is nothing in the record from which such a
waiver could be adduced. The same test should apply to
determine whether a waiver of the Miranda rights oc-
cured, inasmuch as Edwards had claimed his right to

13

counsel. Even if that is not the case, however, a volun-
tary waiver must be found, on all the circumstances, not
including the fact that a statement was made. Taking
away that fact, in this case, leaves only the facts that
Edwards decided not to make a statement until he got a
lawyer, that he told the detention officers at the Pima
County Jail on the morning after his arrest that he did
not want to speak with anyone, and that he told his in-
terrogators he would not make a taped statement
because he did not want it used against him in a court
of law. These are not waiver facts.

Because of the violations of Edwards’ Fifth, Sixth
and Fourteenth Amendment rights of counsel, against
compulsory self-incrimination and to receive due pro-
cess, his confession should have been suppressed.

ARGUMENT

I. The Confession Should Have Been Excluded
Because It Was Obtained In Violation Of The
Fifth And Sixth Amendment Protections
Elaborated In Miranda vy. Arizona.

This case again involves this Court in determining
whether police questioning of an accused in the secrecy
of a jail has undercut the Petitioner’s desire to claim his
privilege against self-incrimination. Probably no con-
stitutional problem has required so much of this Court’s
attention as that arising under the Fifth and Sixth
Amendments when the police undertake, by secret inter-
rogation, to obtain a confession so that a criminal con-
viction can be won.

14

In case after case, it has been established that coerc-
ed confessions are not to be permitted. Culombe v.
Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568 (1961); Brown vy. Mississippi,
297 U.S. 278 (1936). Involuntary confessions lack
trustworthiness as evidence because the conditions under
which they are obtained may be such as would compel
an innocent person to incriminate himself. Lisenba v.
California, 314 U.S. 219 (1941). By allowing the use of
coerced confessions, courts lend judicial sanction to the
illegal methods by which the statements were obtained.
To do so would denigrate the esteem and respect which
the judiciary must be accorded if it is to function effec-
tively in a free society. Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293
(1963); Blackburn v. Alabama, 361 U.S. 199 (1960).

Coercion need not take the physical form of the
rack, the rubber hose or the blackjack. Spirit and mind
may be as effectively twisted to an interrogator’s will as
may the body. Psychological compulsion thus has
received, no less than physical coercion, the reprobation
it deserves. Chambers v. Florida, 309 U.S. 227 (1940).
Mental and emotional coercion take many forms, the
most common of which (incomunicado incarceration,
Mutt and Jeff routines, physical and psychological isola-
tion) are used frequently by police during custodial in-
terrogation in an effort to secure admissions of guilt
from criminal suspects.’ Use of these techniques has
been found to be so powerful as to inherently constitute
coercion. But so frequently did such instances occur,

’ See F. Inbau and J. Reid Criminal interrogation and Confes-
sions (2d ed. 1967); R. Aubrey and R. Caputo Criminal Interroga-
tion (Ist ed. 1965).

15

that in Miranda vy. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), this
Court concluded that, only by effectively warning
suspects of their rights to silence and counsel under the
Fifth and Sixth Amendments, and by scrupulously
honoring any assertion of those rights, would the in-
herent compulsion of custodial interrogation be
dissipated to the extent that statements made during
such interrogation might safely be accepted as voluntary
and admitted into evidence in a court of law. Miranda,
supra; Michigan v. Mosley, supra, 423 U.S. 96 (1975).
If a suspect is not afforded the protection mandated by
this court, confessions are presumed coerced and inad-
missible. Jd. Here, Edwards sought to have the protec-
tion of counsel, but the detectives obtained their result
before he could get it.

A. The presence of counsel is essential in the set-
ting of custodial interrogation as a means of
insuring that constitutional rights are respected.

Of special importance in the present case is the
right to the presence of legal counsel during custodial in-
terrogation. Through the free and unfettered exercise of
this right, a criminally accused can mitigate the coercive
influences inherent in custodial interrogation. Miranda,
supra; Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U.S. 478 (1964). An at-
torney can act as an observer, insuring that his client is
treated within the limits imposed by the Constitution.
He can also take a more active role as adversary for his
client’s interests, giving advice and assistance and assur-
ing that an accused will not face alone the tremendous

16

powers of the state. Fare v. Michael C., 442 U.S. 707
(1979).

Recognizing the pivotal role of counsel in our
system of justice, this Court held in Miranda that a re-
quest for counsel by one undergoing custodial interroga-
tion operates as an assertion of Fifth and Sixth Amend-
ment rights and bars further questioning.

‘If the individual states that he wants an attorney,
the interrogation must cease until an attorney is
present.’’ 384 U.S. at 474.

A request for counsel is an acknowledgement by the ac-
cused that his position vis-a-vis the state is one of
weakness,* and that he is unable or incompetent to
make his own decisions. Michigan v. Mosley, 423 U.S.
96 (1975) (White, J., concurring); Case Note, 31 Vand.
L. Rev. 1069 (1978). Mr. Justice White demonstrated in
Mosley the analytical difference between an assertion of
the right to silence and of the right to counsel. An asser-
tion of the former can be interpreted as an affirmation
of the suspect’s willingness to conduct his relations with
the police on his own. It is, therefore, proper that lines
of communication be kept open, Michigan v. Mosley,
423 U.S. at 110, n. 2, so that authorities may ascertain
if the defendant has chosen for himself a different
course of action. This effectuates Miranda’s major
premise that an individual should be free to make his

* Edwards’ case is instructive. He made an unsuccessful attempt
to negotiate with the prosecution on his own, and then recognized
that he needed a lawyer’s help in dealing with the State. By the time
he got it, the State had dealt with Edwards.

17

own decisions in the exercise of a free and rational in-
tellect. /d., at 110.

An assertion of the right to counsel, on the other
hand, is evidence that the accused has already exercised
his right of self-determination by deciding that he needs
the assistance of a lawyer. Any necessity for keeping
open lines of communication may be fulfilled in this
situation by contacting the suspect’s attorney, id., and
further questioning of the defendant is never required.°

B. A request for counsel must operate as an ab-
solute bar to police-initiated reinterrogation,
until counsel has been provided.

The specific issue to be resolved in the present case
is what effect a suspect’s assertion of the right to
counsel must have upon future attempts to interrogate
the suspect. This Court has indicated on several occa-
sions that no further interrogation may take place. In
arguing against a per se bar to interrogation following
an assertion to the right to silence, Mr. Justice White
noted:

“‘The court showed [in Miranda] ... that when it
wanted to create a per se rule against further inter-

* This is not to say that, simply because a suspect has asserted
his right to silence but not to counsel, the police may badger the ac-
cused until a confession is obtained. Authorities must scrupulously
honor a suspect’s decision not to speak, Michigan v. Mosley, supra,
and some courts have applied as stringent a bar to further inter-
rogations in such circumstances as if the suspect had requested
counsel. United States v. Crisp, 435 F.2d 354 (7th Cir. 1970), cert.
denied, 402 U.S. 947 (1971); People v. Superior Court of Marin
County, 118 Cal. Rptr. 617, 530 P.2d 585 (1975)

18

rogation after assertion of a right, it knew how to
do so. The Court .. . said ‘if the individual states
that he wants an attorney the interrogation must
cease until an attorney is present.’ Miranda v.
Arizona, 384 U.S. at 474 (1966).’’ Michigan v.
Mosely, 423 U.S. 96, 109 (1975) (White, J., concur-
ring) (emphasis in original).

Further support for the proposition that no inter-
rogation may take place is found in Fare v. Michael C.,
442 U.S. 707 (1979). Defendent, a juvenile, had re-
quested, after his arrest, to speak with his probation of-
ficer. This request was denied by the police, and defen-
dant argued that his request had been the functional
equivalent of an assertion of his Fifth Amendment
rights. This Court rejected that contention, noting the
unique position occupied by attorneys.

‘‘The per se aspect of Miranda was thus based on
the unique role the lawyer plays in the adversarial
system of criminal justice in this country. ... For
this reason, the Court fashioned in Miranda the
rigid rule that an accused’s request for an attorney
is per se an invocation of his Fifth Amendment
rights, requiring that all interrogation cease.’’ 442
U.S. at 719.

Accord, State v. Nash, 407 A.2d 365 (N.H. 1979).

The lower Federal courts and the courts of various
states have adopted three different positions on what the
authorities may do once an accused, in custody, asks for
a lawyer after being given Miranda warnings. Some
courts bar or greatly restrict the ability of the police to
engage in further interrogation following an assertion of

19

a suspect’s constitutional rights, in effect adopting a
strict per se approach. Some courts, while expressing ap-
proval of a per se rule, generally allow defendant-
initiated interrogation sessions.'® Finally, some courts
have adopted a case-by-case analysis in determining the
validity of a waiver and do not attach any special im-
port to the suspect’s initial request for counsel.

United States v. Priest, 409 F.2d 491] (Sth Cir.
1969), is a leading example of a flat prohibition against
reinterrogation. There, defendant was interrogated by an
agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation while in the
hospital. He was advised of his rights and asked to sign
the FBI’s standard waiver form. This he refused to do
until he had consulted a lawyer. Ingnoring his request,
the FBI agent forged ahead with the interrogation until
he had obtained a confession. The court held that there
can be no waiver of counsel following a request for one.

‘“‘Where there is a request for an attorney prior to
any questioning, as in this case, a finding of know-
ing and intelligent waiver of the right to an attorney
is impossible.’? 409 F.2d at 493.

This holding is based on the explicit language in Miran-

‘* The record in this case illustrates, and the Arizona Supreme
Court so found, that Edwards had no part in the initiation of the
interrogation session which resulted in his confession. 122 Ariz. at
209. Therefore, whether the rule is that ‘“post-assertion’’ interroga-
tion is totally barred or is barred unless the defendant initiates the
conversation, Edwards’ statements would still be inadmissible.

20

da which seems to create such a per se barrier to post-
assertion interrogation. ''

The Fifth Circuit recently reaffirmed its holding in
Priest. Before it was a case in which a defendant was ar-
rested and incarcerated on murder charges. When he
was interrogated by the police on these charges, the
defendant made a request for the presence of his lawyer.
This request was met with the rejoinder that his lawyer
would not permit him to tell his side of the story. The
interrogation was continued and resulted in a confes-
sion. The court held that the police had violated the
“per se rule . . . that requires all custodial interrogation
to cease once the suspect asks for an attorney.’’ Thomp-
son v. Wainwright, 601 F.2d 768, 770-71 (Sth Cir.
1979).'? It also held that Nash v. Estelle, 597 F.2d 513

“If, . . [the suspect] 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.’’ Miranda v. Arizona,
384 U.S. at 444-45,

‘If the individual states that he wants an attorney, the inter-
rogation must cease until an attorney is present. At that time,
the individual must have an opportunity to confer with the at-
torney and to have him present during any subsequent ques-
tioning.’’ 384 U.S. at 474.

'? See, also, Moore v. State, 261 Ark. 274, 551 S.W.2d 185
(1977); Webb v. State, 258 Ark. 95, 522 S.W.2d 406 (1975); People
v. Brake, 191 colo, 390, 553 P.2d 763 (1976); People v. Cook, 78
Ill. app. 3d 695, 397 N.E.2d 439 (1979); Srevens v. State, 265 Ind.
396, 354 N.E.2d 727 (1976) (statements inadmissible in case in
chief); State v. Boone, 220 Kan. 758, 556 P.2d 864 (1976); Murphy
v. State, 336 So. 2d 213 (Miss. 1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1076
(1977) (statements are not voluntary when made after a request for
attorney which is not honored); People v. Bowers, 45 A.D.2d 241,
357 N.Y.S.2d 563 (1974) (police may ask defendant to reconsider
his request for an attorney but cannot go beyond that into inter-
rogation).

21

(Sth Cir. 1979) (en banc), had allowed further question-
ing only when the request for counsel is equivocal, and
then only to the extent necessary to clear up any confu-
sion as to the suspect’s intentions. Once that confusion
is dissipated, if it is clear that the defendant does want
counsel’s assistance, interrogation may not proceed in
counsel’s absence.

Illustrative of those cases in which a waiver may oc-
cur if the defendant seeks to talk to the police, and in-
itiates the contact, is United States v. Clark, 499 F.2d
802 (4th Cir. 1972), where defendant had been arrested
and presented for a preliminary hearing before a Federal
magistrate on bank robbery charges. After the hearing,
he was interviewed by FBI agents and asserted his right
to counsel. He was thereupon transportated to the coun-
ty jail. In circumstances similar to the case at bar, the
same agents, knowing defendant had not yet procured
counsel, reinterrogated defendant and received damaging
admissions from him. The court held that defendant’s
Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights had been violated
when, having previously asserted his right to counsel,
“‘he was interviewed at the insistence of government
agents without the presence of an attorney.’’ 499 F.2d at
806. Lack of initiation of the interview by defendant
was an important factor in holding defendant’s alleged
waiver to be involuntary.

Another case factually similar to that sub judice is
United States v. Womack, 542 F.2d 1047 (9th Cir.
1976). There, the defendant was arrested in connection
with a kidnapping and murder. When interrogated, he

22

twice requested appointment of counsel, but these re-
quests were ignored. As in the instant case, the police
returned uninvited to the jail the next day to reinter-
rogate the suspect. Womack later testified that he did
not reassert his request for an attorney because his
earlier requests had been to no avail and he did not
believe any further resistance would benefit him. 542
F.2d at 1049. Petitioner Edwards, similarly, did not
renew his request for counsel out of the same sense of
frustration. State v. Edwards, 122 Ariz. at 217.'? The
Womack court held that, if the police failed to honor
immediately a Fifth and Sixth Amendment request for
counsel, interogation may not be continued. The state
there failed to show a voluntary waiver, though the
court did not preclude such possibility. The defendant’s
frustration at the police officers’ blatant disregard of his
request for counsel weighed heavily in favor of this fin-
ding. Similar circumstances militate for a similar finding
in the instant case.

In United States v. Blair, 470 F.2d 331 (Sth Cir.
1972), cert. denied sub nom. Crews vy. United States,
411 U.S. 908 (1973), defendant was arrested in a United
States Post Office and, upon being informed of his
rights, requested the presence of his attorney. The inter-
rogating postal inspector ignored this request, continued

'* Compare Womack’s statements when asked why he did not
renew his request for counsel (‘‘because every time I asked for one,
I never got one, so I gave up on the fact’’, 542 F.2d at 1051), with
Edwards’ response to the same question (‘‘I didn’t think you had to
keep asking for an attorney over and over and over’’, J.A. 84).

23

interrogation and obtained incriminating statements.
The suppression of these statements was upheld on the
grounds that Miranda’s prohibition of post-assertion in-
terrogation ‘‘could hardly have been more uncom-
promising.’’ 470 F.2d at 338. See People v. Medina, 37
Ill. App. 3d 1029, 347 N.E.2d 424 (1976). There was no
evidence of defendant-initiated waiver, so the statement
could not be used.'*

The cases just discussed establish that postassertion
interrogation is barred completely in some jurisdictions
and barred in others unless initiated by the suspect. The
result in the instant case would be the same regardless of
the theory chosen. Edwards clearly did not initiate the
‘*fatal’’ interview — he was told by the jailor that he
had no choice in the matter. His statements would not
be admissible unless police are allowed to initiate, on
their own, reinterrogation following an accused’s asser-
tion of the right to counsel.

'* Other cases adopting a flat prohibition against resumed ques-
tioning, unless the defendant requests it, are United States v.
Massey, 550 F.2d 300 (Sth Cir. 1977) (defendant did not invite post-
assertion interrogation, thus, no valid waiver); People v. Harris,
191 Colo. 234, 552 P.2d 10 (1976); People v. Salazar, 189 Colo.
429, 541 P.2d 676 (1975) (defendant must affirmatively withdraw a
request for counsel); State v. Crisler, 285 N.W.2d 679 (Minn.
1979); Commonwealth v. Mercier, 451 Pa. 221, 302 A.2d 337
(1973); State v. Turner, 32 Ore. App. 61, 573 P.2d 326 (1978)
(defendant may initiate conversations and police may make simple
requests for reconsideration but police may not induce a post-
assertion waiver), and State v. Marcum, 24 Wash. App. 441, 601
P.2d 975 (1979) (all questioning must stop but defendant may in-
itiate waiver).

24

The adoption of a prohibition against reinterroga-
tion is clearly mandated by Miranda, Fare v. Michael C.
and Mosely. It is also fully consistent with the proposi-
tion that an accused in jail, who asks for the help of a
lawyer, feels overmatched and is more susceptible to be-
ing coerced. In addition, it does not deprive the police
of the opportunity to conduct an interrogation, but
rather would only require that an accused receive what
he is constitutionally entitled to — the right to consult
counsel at a meaningful time, and to make a timely
unfettered choice whether or not to speak.

C. Some Jurisdictions Do Allow Renewed Inter-
rogations by the Authorities After a Request
for Counsel, but Close Analysis Reveals That
This Is Not the Better Rule.

The case adopting this position, relied upon by the
Arizona Supreme Court in its opinion below, is United
States v. Rodriquez-Gastelum, 569 F.2d 482 (9th Cir.)
(en banc), cert. denied, 436 U.S. 919 (1978). Defendant
was stopped as he was driving a car, later found to con-
tain marijuana. After his arrest, he was asked if he
wanted to talk about the marijuana and replied he
would if he had an attorney. The Drug Enforcement
Administration officer immediately asked, ‘‘Do you
want to talk to me now without an attorney?’’, to which
defendant replied, ‘‘That’s fine.’’ 569 F.2d at 483. The
court ruled that there should be no per se bar to post-
assertion interrogation when the defendant validly
waives his previously asserted right to counsel. The basis

25

for this decision was that a per se rule would un-
necessarily handcuff the police in the exercise of their
duties and deny a suspect the opportunity to change his
mind and talk to the police if he chose, in the free exer-
cise of his will, to do so. Other courts have also taken
such a position.'®

Yet, several important considerations demonstrate
that the reasoning of these cases cannot withstand close
analysis.

Initially, it should be noted that the ‘‘unnecessarily
handcuff the police’’ argument is unpersuasive and ir-
relevant. It fell on deaf ears, and rightfully so, when
brought before this Court in Miranda, 384 U.S. at 441.
Furthermore, to say that a rule designed to effectuate
protections of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments should
not stand because it hampers the police is to misconstrue
those amendments totally. They are designed to protect
the individual in his exercise of free will, not the police.
Moreover, as already noted, what is involved is a delay
amounting, normally, only to a matter of hours until a
lawyer’s advice is provided to the prisoner. Especially in

'* The following list, while not exhaustive, is indicative of cases
following this position. Blasingame v. Estelle, 604 F.2d 893 (Sth
Cir. 1979); White v. Finkbeiner, 611 F.2d 186 (7th Cir. 1979);
United States v. Brown, 569 F.2d 236 (Sth Cir. 1978) (en banc);
United States v. Grant, 549 F.2d 942 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 432
U.S. 908 (1977); U.S. v. Pheaster, 544 F.2d 353 (9th Cir. 1976),
cert. denied sub nom. Inciso vy. United States, 429 U.S. 1099 (1977);
Biddy v. Diamond, 516 F.2d 118 (Sth Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 425
U.S. 950 (1976); United States v. Hodge, 487 F.2d 945 (Sth Cir.
1973); United States v. Springer, 460 F.2d 1344 (7th Cir.), cert.
denied, 409 U.S. 873 (1972)

26

a case like this one, where trial preparation and not
crime solving was the goal, the police would only be
‘*handcuffed’’ from taking unfair advantage.

The Arizona Supreme Court contended, 122 Ariz.
at 211, as do others, that a per se rule would not allow
a person his right to self-determination but would im-
prison him in his privileges.'® It is anomalous, however,
to talk of freeing an individual to make up his own
mind when the result of such a rule is the overbearing of
a suspect’s will by allowing continued custodial inter-
rogation which, especially in the face of repeated at-
tempts to halt the interrogation, is presumptively coer-
cive. Further, the per se rule against police-induced
reinterrogations would, in fact, allow self-determination.
Arguments to the contrary overlook the fact that, in
true cases of a suspect asking for counsel, the suspect
has already acted in the exercise of his freedom of
choice and has chosen to secure the assistance of legal
counsel.

Perhaps more significant in this case than the
fallacious reasons behind the Rodriquez-Gastelum rule is
the fact that Robert Edwards’ request for counsel and
refusal to talk without a lawyer was never expressly
withdrawn. Hence, Rodriquez-Gastelum and_ similar
cases are quite unlike Edwards’ situation. Cases such as
Rodriquez-Gastelum, supra, and others following its
position often involve an uncertain request, or a ten-
tative one which is not confirmed. The issue here is

'© United States v. Rodriguez-Gastelum, 569 F.2d at 487 (citing
Adams v. United States ex rel, McConn, 317 U.S. 269 (1942)).

27

what the authorities may properly do when the accused
has, in fact, asked for counsel. That is what Edwards
did, and the police understood it as such (J.A. 92). In
Rodriquez, the accused said in almost the same breath
that he would talk if he had an attorney, and that he
would do so without. If the request for counsel is
honored, the accused will have the advice of a lawyer,
usually within hours, and, at most, in several days. The
police can then either reinterrogate or not, as the advis-
ed defendant may choose. That is his right. If a defen-
dant, who can retain his own counsel, deliberately
delays in doing so, that may be reason enough to allow
reinterrogation. But that issue is not presently before the
Court. All that this case requires is a common sense
determination that, once a suspect in custody asks for a
lawyer, only he can reestablish communication before he
speaks with his lawyer. The opinion of the Arizona
Supreme Court, and other similar cases, obviously allow
the least possible freedom for such self-determination,
by placing the decision to reinstitute interrogation not in
the hands of the individual, but in the hands of the
police.

There are additional reasons which compel the con-
clusion that authorities should be precluded from reap-
proaching a suspect who has already asked for counsel.
If the request for counsel is not honored and reinter-
rogation is undertaken, the inherent compulsion to
speak, which Miranda strove to dissipate, is not
mitigated; rather, it is intensified by evidencing a callous

28

disregard for a Suspect’s rights.'? The case at bar shows
how a suspect may feel compelled to give up the fight in
the face of blatant refusal to honor an assertion of the
right to counsel. United States y. Womack, 542 F.2d
1047 (9th Cir. 1976), illustrates the same point. The ac-
cused ‘‘gave up’’ because “Every time | asked for one, |
never got one.’’ 542 F.2d at 105]. See, also, United
States vy, Hernandez, 574 F.2d 1362 (Sth Cir, 1978),

Punishment may be achieved by baiting the Police into
Overreaching, but who is also relatively unaffected by
Custodial atmospheres. People vy. Randall, 83 Cal. Rptr.
658, 464 P.2d 114 (1970).

Il. The Confession Should Have Been Suppressed
Because It Was Taken In Violation Of Ed-
wards’ Sixth Amendment Right To Counsel
Which Had Arisen Because Formal Prosecution
Had Begun Before The Jail Interrogation.

The events of 20 January 1977, when the Police
hurried to reinterrogate Edwards at the county jail

'' See, for example, People y. Washington, 4| Ill. App. 3d 475,
354 N.E. 2d 50] (1976); Srate vy. Stevenson, 523 S.W.2d 349 (Mo.
1975),

29

before he obtained appointed counsel at his first ap-
pearance that afternoon, violated not only Miranda v.
Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966). They infringed, as well,
upon his right to the assistance of counsel at critical
stages in advance of trial.

This case presents the Sixth Amendment problems
such as were faced by the Court in Massiah v. United
States, 377 U.S. 201 (1964); Escobedo v. Illinois, 378
U.S. 478 (1964); Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387
(1977); and United States v. Henry, U.S.
(No. 79-121, June 16, 1980). All of these cases recognize
that the right of an accused to have the assistance of
counsel for his defense extends to various critical
pretrial stages occurring after the commencement of
prosecution against the accused, ‘‘whether by way of
formal charge, preliminary hearing, indictment, infor-
mation or arraignment’’, Kirby v. Illinois, 406 U.S. 682,
689 (1973). Here, prosecution had begun against Ed-
wards. The right to counsel that he enjoyed on the mor-
ning of his interrogation in the Pima County Jail was a
concomitant of the process of judicial prosecution, and
not solely a ‘‘prophylactic means of safeguarding Fifth
Amendment rights’’, Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610, 617
(1976).

Edwards was arrested in January 1976, some fifteen
months after the robbery for which he was charged,
pursuant to an arrest warrant issued on the authority of
a criminal complaint (J.A. 70, 101). In Arizona, the fil-
ing of a complaint before a magistrate is one of two
methods by which felony actions may be commenced.

30

Ariz. R. Crim. P. 2.2 (17 Ariz. Rev. Stat. Annot.). A
complaint is a written statement of the essential facts
constituting a public offense, made upon oath before a
magistrate. Rule 2.3. Once a magistrate receives a com-
plaint, he is required to examine such witnesses as he
deems necessary and determine whether there is
reasonable cause to believe an offence has been commit-
ted and the defendant committed it. Rule 2.4. He may
either dismiss the complaint or proceed to issue a sum-
mons or a warrant of arrest. Ariz. R. Crim. P. 3.1
(Ariz. Rev. Stat. Annot.) These steps had been taken
before Edwards had been arrested and incarcerated in
the Pima County Jail overnight. The initial appearance
at which the detectives knew Edwards would obtain ap-
pointed counsel was the procedure specified in Ariz. R.
Crim. P. 4.1 and 4.2 (17 Ariz. Rev. Stat. Annot.). Such
an appearance may include an arraignment, the appoint-
ment of counsel for indigents, and the scheduling of a
preliminary hearing for those cases, such as this one,
where a felony had already been charged by complaint."

'* Rule 4.2 provides:
“Rule 4.2. Initial Appearance

a. In General. At the defendant's initial appearance, the
magistrate shall:

(1) ascertain the defendant’s true name and address and, if
necessary, amend the formal charges to reflect it, instructing
the defendant to notify the court promptly of any change of
address;

(2) inform him of the charges against him;

(3) inform of his rights to counsel and to remain silent;

(4) appoint counsel if the defendant is eligible for and re-
quests appointed counsel under Rule 6; and

(5) determine the conditions of release in acccrdance with
Rule 7.2.

31

The State, then, had commenced its prosecution of Peti-
tioner Edwards when the Complaint was filed. Moore v.
Illinois, 434 U.S. 220, 228 (1977).'°

* The interrogation conducted by Officers Marmion
and Milne was for trial preparation purposes. Marmion
went down to the jail to ‘‘see what he was going to tell
me on that particular day’’ (J.A. 51), and Milne went
along at the direction of Sergeant Bunting, to be ‘‘a
witness to any statements that he made’’ (J.A. 68). It
was purely an attempt to obtain a confession from Ed-
wards. Accordingly, there is no doubt that the agents set
out to ‘‘deliberately elicit’’ incriminating statements
from Edwards within the meaning of Massiah v. United
States, 377 U.S. 201 (1964), and United States v. Henry,
U.S. (No. 79-121, June 16, 1980). Of
course, there is no doubt that this kind of confronta-

b. Misdemeanors: Felonies Charged By Indictment.When a
defendant charged with a misdemeanor or indicted for a felony
is brought before a magistrate for his initial appearance, he
shall, in addition to the procedures set forth in Section a, be
arraigned in the manner prescribed by Rule 14, if counsel is
present or waived. If the appearance is before a magistrate
without jurisdiction to try the offense, the magistrate shall
transfer the case to the proper court for arraignment.

c. Felonies Charged By Complaint.When a defendant is
charged in a complaint, the magistrate shall, in addition to the
procedures required by Section (a):

(1) inform the defendant of the right to a preliminary hear-
ing and the circumstances under which and procedures by
which that right may he waived; and

(2) unless waived, set the time for a preliminary hearing in
accordance with Rule 5.1.’’

'* United States ex rel. Robinson v. Zelker, 468 F.2d 159 (2d Cir.
1972), cert. denied sub nom. Zelker v. Robinson, 411 U.S. 939
(1973). Cf. Commonwealth v. Whiting, 439 Pa. 205, 266 A.2d 738
(1970)

32

tion, after commencement of prosecution, designed to
obtain an admissible confession at the trial of the accus-
ed, is that kind of critical stage at which Edwards was
entitled to the presence and assistance of counsel.
Massiah, supra; Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387
(1977); United States v. Henry, supra.

In this case, the interrogation of Edwards by Detec-
tives Marmion and Milne was especially critical. It was,
of course, an attempt to obtain a confession for use ai
trial, and to substitute interrogation, in an isolated jail
house interview booth, for the trial. Counsel’s presence
was necessary to ‘‘minimize the imbalance in the adver-
sary system’’, United States v. Ash, 413 U.S. 300, 309
(1973), ‘‘where the accused is confronted by his expert
adversary’? under circumstances where ‘‘the results
might well settle the accused’s fate’’, /d, at 310.

The fruits of Marmion’s interrogation were not tape
recorded, written down or formally acknowledged by
Edwards in any way.’° Edwards did not testify in his
own defense at his trial. Thus, counsel’s absence left Ed-
wards ‘‘unable to present his version [of what occurred

*° Edwards at first testified, during the Motion to Suppress, that
he had not made a statement (J.A. 49-50). Upon the resumption of
the Supopression Hearing a few days later, he acknowledged that
he had made a statement and that his prior testimony to the con-
trary was because ‘‘the D.A. was talking too fast. | was confused.’’
(J.A. 80.) Indeed, the transcript of Edwards’ previous day’s
testimony demonstrates some confusion (J.A. 49-50).

Curiously, Officer Marmion did not preserve the tape recor-
ding he made upon leaving the jail after interviewing Edwards on
the morning before his initial appearance (J.A. 58-59), but simply
prepared a routine ‘‘supplemental report’’ sometime later (J.A. 53).

33

at the jail] effectively without giving up his privilege
against compulsory self-incrimination’’. United States v.
Ash, supra, 413 U.S. at 313. In many cases, trials are
won or lost on the basis of confessions. Culombe v.
Connecticut, supra; Miranda vy. Arizona, supra. \f a
suspect is denied his right to counsel at this stage of the
proceedings when this most probative piece of evidence
is being sought, his right to effective assistance of
counsel at later stages is an empty promise. Culombe v.
Connecticut, supra; Crooker v. California, 357 U.S. 433
(1958) (Douglas, J., dissenting).

The fact that inculpatory statements obtained from
Edwards were received in evidence is not the only
adverse effect of his loss of the right to counsel. On the
night before, Edwards had asked Bunting about the pro-
spects of ‘‘making a deal’’ and, according to Bunting,
had spoken to the prosecuting attorney about the
possibility of making a deal.?' Edwards had then told
Sergeant Bunting that he would obtain a lawyer before
making a statement and before making a deal (J.A.
151), expressing himself in such a way that the trial
court concluded Edwards intended for the deal to be
based, at least in part, on his giving a statement in ex-
change for lenient treatment or some other accommoda-
tions from the State (J.A. 1). The next day, when Mar-

*' At the Suppression Hearing, Edwards agreed that he had
wanted to make a deal and decided to wait to either make a state-
ment or deal until after he obtained counsel, but testified that he
did not ask to speak to the County Attorney, asking instead for a
lawyer. He said he was surprised to find that the lawyer Bunting
obtained for him by telephone was the District Attorney (J.A. 73).

34

mion and Milne went to the county jail, there was, ac-
cording to their testimony, no further reference to the
making of a deal. We can presume that Edwards did not
realize the adverse effect of the admissions he was to
make that morning upon any plea bargaining he might
later undertake.

This Court has recognized that plea bargaining is
‘fan essential component of the administration of
justice’? which ‘‘presupposes fairness in _ securing
agreements between an accused and a prosecutor’’, San-
tobello v. New York, 404 U.S. 257 (1971). Plea bargain-
ing is an inherent part of the modern system, Blackledge
v. Allison, 431 U.S. 63 (1977); Corbitt v. New Jersey,
439 U.S. 212 (1978), and the Sixth and Fourteenth
Amendment guarantees of counsel and due process app-
ly fully as much to the plea bargaining process as to
other essential or critical phases of the prosecution. It
has also been recognized that, when entering into a plea
bargain, the defendant is waiving substantial constitu-
tional rights’? and that the presence of counsel (or a
valid waiver thereof) is necessary to insure due process
of law. Bodenkircher v. Hayes, 434 U.S. 357, reh.
denied, 435 U.S. 918 (1978); Tollett v. Henderson, 411
U.S. 258 (1973); Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742
(1970).

?? By pleading guilty, a defendant waives his right to put the
state to its proof, his right to a trial by jury, his right to confront
witnesses against him and his right not to incriminate himself. U.S.
Const., Amend. V; U.S. Const., Amend. VI; United States v.
Brady, 397 U.S. 742 (1970); cf. Vont Moltke v. Gillies, 332 U.S.
708 (1948) (emphasizing the importance of counsel when pleading
guilty).

35

Thus, when Edwards was reinterrogated by Mar-
mion and Milne, knowing that he had not yet been able
to obtain counsel and did not have a lawyer, he was not
just making incriminating statements to an expert adver-
sary, but was also impairing his prospects for plea
bargaining which, though not part of the State’s written
criminal procedures, offered informal opportunities that
could have been extremely significant and beneficial to
Edwards. That a bargain might have been reached for
Edwards’ testimony, to convict a co-defendant or assure
his own conviction, in exchange for the reduction of
charges or the minimization of a potential sentence, is
hardly a novel concept to the criminal lawyer. This case
involved a potential death penalty, an obvious potential
goal for defense plea bargaining. It also involved a first-
degree felony murder charge that depended for a convic-
tion upon convincing a jury to accept felony murder in-
structions and to conclude that the robbery was a legal
cause of the bar proprietor’s death by heart attack. One
co-perpetrator had already been given immunity. We
can conclude that, on the night of his arrest, Edwards
had appropriate concerns in wanting to bargain his
testimony for some concessions, but decided that he was
inadequate to the task of negotiation. It would have
been difficult, if not impossible, for him to negotiate for
himself without, at the same time, giving up his right to
remain silent.

While the State was, of course, not obliged either to
bargain with Edwards or to refrain from attempting to
get a statement from him, United States v. Washington,

36

431 U.S. 181, 187 (1977), it was proscribed from
frustrating and circumventing Edward’s request for and
right to counsel until such time as counsel’s assistance
would be virtually ineffective. Yet, that is what happen-
ed here. The right to counsel embraces counsel’s
assistance at such time and in such manner as to assure
that his participation in trials or critical pretrial events is
informed and effective. Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45
(1932). In its Rules of Criminal Procedure, Arizona
recognizes that effective representation must occur ‘‘as
soon as feasible after a defendant is taken into
custody.’’?’ This Court can guarantee no less.

The interrogating officers, and Sergeant Bunting
who sent Milne to be a witness to any possible state-
ments, certainly knew that their morning’s interrogation,
if successful, would have the effect of frustrating Ed-
ward’s right to appointed counsel.** Even had they not,
the Sixth Amendment violation is no less prejudicial.
Nor does it matter that Edward’s right to counsel was

** Ariz, R. Crim. p. 6.1(a) (17 Ariz. Rev. Stat. Annot. Supp.),
specifies:

‘*a. Right to be Represented by Counsel. A defendant shall
be entitled to be represented by counsel in any criminal pro-
ceeding, .. . The right to be represented shall include the right
to consult in private with an attorney, or his agent, as soon as
Jeasible after a defendant is taken into custody, at reasonable
times thereafter and sufficiently in advance of proceeding to
allow adequate preparation therefor.’’ (Emphasis supplied.)

** Bunting dispatched Milne to interrogate Edwards, but even if
he had not, Marmion and Milne were charged with Bunting’s
knowledge that Edwards wanted a lawyer. People v. Ireland, 75
Cal. Rptr. 188, 450 P.2d 580 (1969). Cf. Whitely v. Warden, 401
U.S. 560, 568 (1971); Smith v. United States, 358 F.2d 833, 835
(D.C. Cir. 1966).

37

violated at its inception, before he was given appointed
counsel. McLeod v. Ohio, 381 U.S. 356 (1965). There,
this Court, by summary reversal, applied Massiah,
supra, to a case like this one, where the right to counsel
attached but counsel had not yet been provided.

I1I. The Fourteenth Amendment Guarantees Of
Due Process, Requiring That All Stages Of The
Prosectuion Be Conducted Within Traditional
And Accepted Notions Of Fundamental
Fairness, Prohibit The Use Of A Confession
Obtain After Prosecution Has Begun, Before
The Accused Can Obtain Counsel’s Advice Or
Presence

Edwards’ prosecution in court commenced upon the
filing of the Complaint, and his interrogation on
January 20 was to get him convicted. Realizing this, the
focus of the prosecution efforts had shifted from in-
vestigative to prosecutorial. Consequently, not only had
the Sixth Amendment right to counsel attached, but
other constitutional guaranties that would affect the
fairness of the judicial proceedings were afforded Ed-
wards. The due process clause is among them.

It may be that, before the State has determined to
prosecute an accused and has begun court proceedings
to do so, the police can and should conduct interroga-
tions using the range of deception and trickery that has
been so widely reported, so long as the sum total is not
a coerced confession or a violation of the warnings re-
quired and procedures specified in Miranda v. Arizona.

38

After prosecution commences, however, interrogation is
a critical stage, and the jail house interrogation is a
critical stage, and the jail house interrogation readily
becomes an attempt not to investigate a crime, but to
substitute inquisition in private for a public adversarial
trial. Hence, while this Court may not be overly con-
cerned with the propriety of such pre-critical stage police
practices as obtaining a suspect’s confession by falsely
stating to defendant that his fingerprints were found at
the scene of the crime,” a police officer/friend of the
suspect falsely telling him that his job was in jeopardy,”®
or false lineups and other psychological tactics and
techniques,’” considerations of fundamental fairness
must play a greater role when a critical stage is
involved.?* The possibilities for psychological
gamesmanship and deception are almost limitless,’? and
permitting such tactics where the process is avowedly in-
tended to replace obtaining testimony of the accused on
the witness stand during a public trial, would have this
Court placing its imprimatur on the sporting theory of
justice that has long been discredited. Cf., Wardius v.

?> Oregon v. Mathiason, 429 U.S. 492 (1977).
** Spano v. New York, 360 U.S. 315 (1959).

?? See, generally,White, Police Trickery in Inducing Confessions,
127 U. Pa. L. Rev. 581.

** Even at that, this Court has noted the difficulty in
distinguishing between proper police conduct and methods offensive
to due process. See Haynes v. Washington, 373 U.S. 503, 515
(1963).

2% See Kamisar Brewer v. Williams, Massiah, and Miranda: What

is ‘‘Interrogation’’'? When does it matter? 67 Georgetown L.J. 1,
16, 17, 23 (1978).

39

Oregon, 412 U.S. 470 (1973). And yet we do not ask
that this Court conclude that policemen may not con-
duct interrogations in that manner after a criminal pro-
secution is commenced. Instead, we simply seek a
holding that such an attempt may not occur unless and
until an accused has obtained and consulted with
counsel and counsel has an Opportunity to even the odds
by being present and assisting his client.

The initiation of such secret interrogations after
prosecution is commenced is, as we will shortly show, a
practice that has been severely criticized by members of
this Court and other courts as “‘unethical’’, ‘‘unfair’’,
‘‘forhidden’”’ and ‘‘undesirable’’. There is no reason that
fundamental fairness as guaranteed by the Fourteenth
Amendment should not govern this critical stage and
this kind of evasion of the right to counsel.

This Court is accustomed to prohibiting the State
from taking unfair advantage, both during trial and
before it. A prosecutor is prohibited by the due process
guaranties of the Fourteenth Amendment from taking
advantage of false testimony and failing to correct it.
E.g., Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264 (1959). Similarly, a
state may not suppress evidence favorable to the accus-
ed, after a request, without violating the due process
rights of the accused. Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83
(1963); Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610, 617 (1976), holds
that an accused’s silence after receiving Miranda warn-
ings cannot be used to impeach exculpatory trial
testimony; to allow otherwise permits penalizing a
defendant for exercising a right given him. In Reece vy.

40

Georgia, 350 U.S. 85 (1955), this Court held that due
process was violated by a rule requiring an accused to
challenge the composition of a grand jury panel at a
time when counsel had not been appointed and could
not act. Such a rule, it was said, erected a barrier to the
assertion of the constitutional right to effective counsel
and, therefore, contravened due process. The general
principle advanced here was aptly stated by Mr. Justice
Powell in Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25, 44 (1972)
(concurring opinion):

‘Due Process, perhaps the most fundamental con-
cept in our law, embodies principles of fairness
rather than immutable line drawing as to every
aspect of a criminal trial.’’

Here, if to undertake a secret interrogation without
counsel violates widely accepted notions of ethics and
fairness, it should be prohibited under the due process
clause. And there is no doubt that such actions have
meet with widespread disapproval.

For example, in United States v. Springer, 460 F.2d
1344, 1354 (7th Cir. 1972), then-Circuit Judge Stevens
dissented from a panel majority which found that an in-
terrogation of an accused, after indictment, without giv-
ing his counsel the right to be present, did not vitiate the
conviction in the case at bench. Under circumstances
identical to those in this case, where a jail interrogation
was carried out solely for trial preparation, after the
beginning of prosecution in the absence of either notice
to or presence of defense counsel, and having no in-
vestigative purpose, the dissent noted, ‘‘In a civil con-

41

text I would consider this behavior unethical and unfair.
In a criminal context | regard it as such a departure
from ‘procedural regularity’ as to violate the due pro-
cess clause of the Fifth Amendment.’’ 460 F.2d at 1355.

In Mathies v. United States, 374 F.2d 312 (D.C.
Cir. 1967), Chief Justice, then-Circuit Judge Burger,
writing for the panel of Circuit Judges, discussed a
‘‘troublesome problem’’ arising out of the police of-
ficers having questioned an accused after indictment
without notifying his counsel. The court concluded that
evidence challenged later at trial was not the fruit of the
questioning. But, the opinion noted that, in a civil con-
text, such conduct would have been forbidden and, ina
criminal context, it was said that Miranda v. Arizona,
384 U.S. 436 (1966), “‘plainly will require that such in-
terviews can be conducted only after counsel has been
given an opportunity to be present.’’ 374 F.2d at 316, n.
3. The court said, ‘‘We assume that the episode will not
arise again in the future.’’ Id., at 316. But, it is now a
familiar pattern.°°

*° Hurried interrogations, before a lawyer can come into the Ppic-
ture, are not unusual events. Indeed, court cases reflect a pattern of
police conduct in which one sees repeated attempts to interrogate
prisoners Outside the presence of counsel. United States v. Cobbs,
481 F.2d 196 (3d Cir. 1973), cert. denied, 414 U.S. 980 (1973);
United States v. Durham, 475 F.2d 208 (7th Cir. 1973); United
States v. Miller, 432 F. Supp. 382 (E.D. N.Y. 1977), aff’d sub
nom. United States v. Fernandez, §73 F.2d 1297 (2d Cir. 1978);
United States v. Cookston, 379 F. Supp. 487 (W.D. Tex. 1974);
State v. Turner, 32 Ore. App. 61, 573 P.2d 326 (1978) (interroga-
tion before defendant could speak with newly appointed counsel;
Miranda rights given and statements made, but no waiver); Stare v.
Travis, 360 A.2d 548 (R.1. 1976).

42

The Ninth Circuit has found the conduct of a con-
frontation between agents for the prosecution and the
defendant, under circumstances designed to prevent the
attendance or advice of counsel, to be a violation of the
Sixth Amendment. See Schantz v. Eyman, 418 F.2d 11,
13 (9th Cir. 1969). There, a confrontation occurred bet-
ween the accused and a mental health expert, and was
intended to elicit evidence countering an_ insanity
defense. The Ninth Circuit has not found a Sixth or
Fourteenth Amendment violation in similar encounters
between interrogators and the accused, but has severely
criticized such tactics. The leading Ninth Circuit case is
Coughlan v. United States, 391 F.2d 371 (9th Cir. 1968),
in which the per curiam opinion criticized the practice of
interrogating an accused after the institution of prosecu-
tion, without notice to counsel. Judge Hamley wrote an
extensive, widely-quoted dissent, in which he concluded
that, for interrogating officers to renew a request for a
statement, during a private and in-custody confrontation
in the absence of counsel, when the accused had
previously indicated he did not wish to talk with the in-
terrogating officers, ‘‘flouts the spirit of the Fifth and
Sixth Amendments and the rational of Miranda.’’ 391
F.2d at 374. Judge Hamley quoted the above cited por-
tion of Mathies v. United States, supra, and also con-
cluded that former Canon 9 had been violated by such a
procedure. 391 F.2d at 375-76. In addition, the Ninth
Circuit has said, in United States v. Four Star, 428 F.2d
1406 (9th Cir. 1970), that to conduct an in-custody in-
terrogation of an accused person known to. be
represented by counsel without affording counsel an op-

43

portunity to be present is ‘‘undesirable ... and that a
prosecuting attorney who ... takes advantage of its
results violates professional ethics.’’ 428 F.2d at 1406,
1407 (1970).

The Seventh Circuit in United States v. Durham,
475 F.2d 208 (7th Cir. 1973), excluded a confession
because of the ‘‘ethical questions’? and a conclusion that
the government carried a burden to show that Durham’s
counsel was notified of the interrogation.

Reference has been made in this Court’s opinions to
the proposition that interrogations of an accused
without giving counsel an Opportunity to be present is a
violation of former Canon 9 and of present DR 7-104,
without deciding whether or not such conduct con-
travenes either Sixth or Fourteenth Amendment
guarantees, E.g., Masiah v. United States, 377 U.S. 201;
United States v. Henry, ___U.S. , n. 14 (No.
79)121, June 16, 1980). Other courts have disapproved
such tactics without reaching the constitutional issue.
E.g., United States v. Thomas, 474 F.2d 110 (10th Cir.
1973) (‘‘This does not necessarily present a constitu-
tional question, but this is an ethical and administrative
one ...’’, id., at 112); People v. Green, 405 Mich. 273,
274 N.W.2d 448 (1979) (because defendant had in-
stituted interview, violation of DR 7-104 ‘relatively in-
nocuous’’ and, therefore, no due process violation, id.,
at 455); People v. Hobson, 39 N.Y.2d 479, 348 N.E.2d
894 (1976) (prohibiting such interrogations as a matter
of state constitutional law); Svate v. Yatman, 320 So. 2d
401 (Fla. App. 1975) (‘‘While we condemn the pro-

44

cedure employed here, we conclude that it does not
automatically require a dismissal’’, id., at 403). Some
courts have rejected an exclusionary effect because of a
violation of the Canon of Ethics, e.g., United States v.
Masullo, 489 F.2d 217 (2d Cir. 1973) (defendant re-
quested interview, court concerned that rule would be
applied only to those who actually have lawyers); State
v. Richmond, 114 Ariz. 186, 560 P.2d 41 (1976) (DR
7-104 applies only to civil cases, id., at 191); State v.
Nicholson, 77 Wash. 2d 415, 463 P.2d 633 (1969) (‘‘The
purpose of Canon 9 was to assure to civil litigants some
of the protection from these influences which the
Federal and State Constitutions guarantee to criminal
defendants’’, id., at 636).

It is obvious that the vast weight of opinion con-
cludes that, for a prosecuting attorney or his agents to
interrogate an accused for purposes of obtaining a con-
fession usable in court, without advising his counsel, is
unethical and improper behavior. It is just as wrong to
do so before one can obtain the counsel he has asked
for and will receive within hours. McLeod v. Ohio, 381
U.S. 356 (1965).'' We do not here contend that the

‘In MeLeod, the Ohio Supreme Court had concluded that
Massiah v. United States, 377 U.S. 201 (1969), was inapplicabe
because McLeod had not yet received appointed counsel. This court
summarily reversed. See also Abeles v. State Bar, 108 Cal. Rptr.
359, 510 P.2d 719 (1973), indicating that DR 7-104 applies even
where a party has counsel of record but not one actually authorized
to act for the party. 510 P.2d at 723. And at least one state ethics
opinion has expressly indicated that the prohibition to interrogate
an accused in the absence of notice of counsel applies ‘‘as of the
time that defendant had requested counsel, rather than as of the
time that it might be said that counsel was technically appointed or

45

Sixth or Fourteenth Amendment ought to incorporate
DR 7-104 of the Code of Professional Responsibility,
either ‘‘bag and baggage’’ or at all. Instead, we merely
cite the widespread acceptance and application of that
rule, as indicative of the ethical impropriety of the one-
sided secret contact that occurred in this case, which is
certainly pertinent to determining whether the Arizona
authorities intentionally or negligently deprived Edwards
of his Sixth Amendment rights, Michigan v. Tucker, 417
U.S. 433 (1974), or whether they ‘‘consciously and
knowingly set out to violate such rights’’, Brewer v.
Williams, supra, 430 U.S. at 407 (Marshall, J., concurr-
ing). Moreover, if ‘‘due process’’ is a combination of
notions of fundmental fairness, Argersinger v. Hamlin,
supra (concurring opinion), and the principle that con-
viction may only result from a fair trial that is ‘‘not a
sham or a pretense,’’ Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U.S.
319, 327 (1937), then this Court can surely allow the
ethical impropriety of what happened to Robert Ed-
wards to enter into its definition of ‘‘due process’’.

It hardly seems novel or controversial to conclude
that intentionally avoiding the presence of consel when

retained.’’ Opinion No. 155, 28 Oregon State Bar Bulletin, p. 10,
Oct. 1967. And the Texas Bar concludes that the county attorney
should give the accused an opportunity to secure counsel, and only
conduct a confrontation if such an opportunity is afforded and re-
jected. Texas Bar Opinion 226, 18 Baylor L. Rev. 195, 307 (1966).
It has also been made clear that the ethical strictures apply where a
police officer is permitted by a state’s attorney to conduct an inter-
rogation or the state’s asttorney uses the fruits of such an interroga-
tion. See Illinois Professional Ethics Opinion 320, 58 Ill. B.J. 139
(1969); Texas Bar Opinion 144, 18 Baylor L. Rev, 195, 255 (1966).

46

conducting a confrontation between an accused and his
interrogators solely to obtain trial testimony, justifies
reversal of a conviction. As one respected commentator
noted fifteen years ago, the overall concept of due pro-
cess is available where the police ‘‘elicit a confession at
the stationhouse from a suspect whose case is ripe for
presentation to a magistrate, thus postponing the
assistance of counsel’’. Judge Henry J. Friendly, The
Bill of Rights as a Code of Criminal Procedure, 53 Cal.
L. Rev. 929, 951 (1965). And in a case later affirmed by
this Court on retroactivity grounds, Judge Friendly said
in dissent:

**] continue to believe that, in the absence of over-
riding necessity or consent, a man who has been
brought before a judge on a charge of a capital
crime, and has expressed his desire for counsel, is
entitled under the constitution fo be let alone until
he gets one.’’ United States ex rel. Stovall v. Den-
no, 355 F.2d 731, 745 (2d Cir. 1966), aff’d sub nom
Stovall v. Denno, 388 U.S. 293 (1967) (emphasis
supplied).

The courts of the various circuits that have passed
on the matter conclude at /east that Judge Friendly was
right: One prosecution has started and an accused wants
a lawyer, he should be let alone until he gets one.*? They
and some states’ Supreme Courts have refrained from
holding as a matter of due process that this unfairness
Should be redressed. Inasmuch as these occurrences
significantly affect the fairness of the ensuing trial, by
permitting the development and presentation of evidence

’ See cases discussed supra, at pp. 47-50.

47

that is necessarily onesided and may be coerced, this
Court should recognize that due process is violated by
such a state of affairs, and should prohibit the introduc-
tion of a confession obtained as a result of an interroga-
tion which has bypassed defense counsel.

IV. Even If There Could Be A Waiver After Ed-
wards Asked To Have A Lawyer And Told
The Jailor He Did Not Want To Speak With
The Detectives, The Record Does Not Permit
A Finding That A Waiver Occurred.

If, notwithstanding what has been said in Argument
I above, Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), is in-
terpreted to permit the police to reinterrogate Edwards
after he has asked for a lawyer and said he did not want
to talk with the detectives, the question of waiver must
then be considered. Furthermore, even if a Miranda
waiver might have occurred, an even stronger showing is
required to establish that Edwards waived the right to
the assistance of counsel at a critical pretrial which
Argument II, above, demonstrates he was entitled to.
Under both circumstances, the only event upon which a
finding of waiver could be based is that, on the morning
after his arrest, Edwards ultimately gave a statement
when he was reinterrogated. He did not revoke his re-
quest for counsel made the evening before. He had not
had a chance to consult with counsel. He told the deten-
tion officer he did not want to speak to anyone. He said
he did not want a statement taped because it could be
used against him in court of law. Under whatever stan-
dard is applied, these facts do not make out a waiver.

48

It is axiomatic that, in order to waive a Federally
guaranteed constitutional right, there must be shown an
understanding and intelligent relinquishment of a known
right. Tague v. Louisiana, U.S. (No.
79-5386, Jan. 21, 1980).°> The burden of proof is on the
government, and it is a heavy one.** Tague v. Louisiana,
supra; Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), and
the prosecution cannot be said to have carried its burden
in the case at bar.

Courts must indulge in every reasonable presump-
tion against a finding of waiver, North Carolina v.
Butler, 441 U.S. 369 (1979), and any waiver allegedly
obtained subsequent to a request for counsel is constitu-
tionally suspect when it is the result of continued inter-
rogation, because it is that interrogation which should
cease upon the assertion of the right to a lawyer.*®

‘’ Tague is the latest of many cases of this Court on the subject:
North Carolina v. Butler, 441 U.S. 369 (1979); FAre v. Michael C.,
442 U.S. 707 (1979); Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387 (1977);
Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218 (1973; Miranda v.
Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966); Brookhart v. Janis, 384 U.S. 1
(1966); Carnley v. Cochran, 369 U.S. 506 (1962); Johnson v. Zerb-
st, 304 U.S. 458 (1938).

* As the importance of the right is increased, the need for a
clear showing of waiver is concomitantly higher. Rights which are
fundamental to the assurance of a fair trial are more important
(right to counsel, for example) than rights such as those pro-
mulgated by the Fourth Amendment which do not, in and of
themselves, affect the fairness of any ensuing trial. Schneckloth v.
Bustamonte, 412 U.S. at 240 (applying high standard to Miranda
waivers).

’* The initial assertion of the right to counsel ‘‘weighs heavily
against the finding that a subsequent uncounseled confession is
voluntary.’ United States v. Clark, 499 F.2d at 807. See, also,
Commonwealth v. Murray, 359 Mass. 509, 269 N.E.2d 641 (1971);

49

‘(T]he accused having expressed his own view that
he is not competent to deal with the authorities
without legal advice, a later decision at the
authorities’ insistence to make a statement without
counsel’s presence may properly be viewed with
skepticism.’’ Michigan v. Mosley, 423 U.S. at 110,
n. 2 (White, J., concurring).

See, also, People v. Ireland, 75 Cal. Rptr. 188, 450 P.2d
580 (1969). Edwards had asserted his right to counsel
the day of his arrest. When the police sought to inter-
view him the following morning, he endeavored to assert
his right not to talk to them but was forced to do so by
the jailer (J.A. 77). This continued interrogation in the
face of repeated assertions by Edwards that he chose not
to talk to the police weighs heavily against a finding of
voluntary waiver, United States v. Womack, supra;
United States v. Hernandez, supra,*® as police may not
be permitted to overbear a defendant’s will. North
Carolina v. Butler, supra; Brewer v. Williams, supra.
According to Edwards’ testimony, he finally talked to
the police because he did not believe renewing his re-
quest for an attorney would be efficacious. 122 Ariz. at
217 (Gordon, J., dissenting). This demonstrates that he
did not voluntarily change his mind about wanting a
lawyer before he made a statement but, rather, that he

State v. Nash, 407 A.2d 365 (N.H. 1979); People v. Cunningham,
49 N.Y.2d 203, 424 N.Y.S.2d 421 (1980) (uncounseled waiver
following request for counsel cannot be voluntary).

’* See, e.g., Dyett v. People, 177 Colo. 370, 494 P.2d 94 (1972);
Holmes v. Staste, 300 A.2d 6 (Del. 1972); People v. Grant, 45
N.Y.2d 366, 380 N.E.2d 257 (1978); People v. Byers, 71 A.D.2d 77,
421 N.Y.S.2d 462 (1979).

50

simply concluded that he would not get one. And it is
not at all clear that he understood that verbal statements
could be used against him in court.

After being ordered to meet with the police officers
the morning after his arrest, Edwards showed that he
failed entirely to grasp the import of what the police
were saying to him. First, he reasserted his right to
silence when the jailor insisted he had to talk to the of-
ficers. Yet, being read his rights, he agreed to talk but
did not want his statements recorded so that they could
not be used against him. Even after the police officers
explained that oral statements were admissible,
regardless of whether recorded or not, Edwards ex-
hibited obvious confusion by continuing to insist that
the statements not be taped. If he had acutally
understood his rights, he would not, given his continued
attempts to avoid self-incrimination, have consented to
make a statement. As he did not understand his rights
he could not have validly waived them. United States v.
Clark, supra (marked confusion as to the meaning of
rights weighs heavily against a finding of valid waiver).

At the very least, Edwards’ adoption of such
manifestly self-contradictory positions should have
alerted the police to his ultimate failure to grasp the
meaning of the proffered warnings and counseled
against further, questioning. See Thompson v. Wain-
wright, supra; United States v. Nielsen, 392 F.2d 849
(7th Cir. 1968); Pirtle v. State, 263 Ind. 16, 323 N.E.2d
634 (1975). In Nielsen, defendant was interrogated after
his arrest for the theft of a car. As in the instant case,

5]

defendant asserted his constitutional rights to an at-
torney and to silence. He said he would not sign the
waiver form until he had seen his attorney. The police
testified at trial that defendant then said they could pro-
ceed with their questioning. The Nielsen fact pattern
closely tracks the instant case, where Edwards refused to
allow the taping of his statement but proceeded to
answer questions. The Nie/sen court recognized that the
defendant’s adoption of a self-contradictory position
with respect to his right not to incriminate himself was
evidence of a lack of comprehension such that the
subsequent statements were not the product of a valid,
understanding waiver of defendant’s rights. The same |
result is warranted in the case at bar.

In Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218 (1973),
this Court made it clear that, contrary to the situation
involving a consent search, the government must prove
that Edwards made ‘‘an intentional relinquishment or
abandonment of a known right or privilege’ before he
can be found to have waived his right to counsel, and
that this test of Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458 (1938),
applied to waivers of counsel in an interrogation situa-
tion, 412 U.S. at 236-239. Under circumstances in which
no right to counsel has been claimed, but instead involv-
ed an accused hearing the Miranda warnings and
deciding to make a statement, this Court held in North
Carolina v. Butler, supra, that a waiver of the rights to
remain silent and to have counsel, under Miranda v.
Arizona, supra, need not be made expressly but could
be implied from the particular facts and circumstances

52

surrounding the case. North Carolina v. Butler did not
retreat from the high standards set in Schneckloth and
previous cases, as is demonstrated by Fare v. Michael
C., 442 U.S. 707 (1979), in which this Court reaffirmed
its statement in Miranda v. Arizona, that if an inter-
rogation continues without the presence of an attorney
and a statement is taken ‘‘a heavy burden rests on the
government to demonstrate that the defendant knowing-
ly and intelligently waived his privilege against self-
incrimination and his right to retained or appointed
counsel’’, 384 U.S. at 475. That proposition was again
reinforced by the opinion of this Court last term in
Tague v. Louisiana, U.S. (No. 79-5386,
Jan. 21, 1980). None of these cases hold that a waiver
of Miranda protections can be found on facts like those
presented here. To the contrary, what is demonstrated is
an attempt to support a waiver merely by virtue of the
fact that a statement was obtained on the morning of
January 20, 1977, while Edwards was still waiting for
counsel.

As the New Hampshire Supreme Court recognized,
there is a difference in the showing needed to establish,
by the totality of circumstances, a voluntary waiver of
‘‘first level’? Miranda warnings, and what is required
where counsel is requested. ‘‘A voluntary oral or written
express waiver (not induced by further interrogation)
[should] be obtained once the right to councel is
asserted.’’ State v. Nash, 407 A.2d 365, 368, (N.H.
1979).

In order for the State of Arizona to establish that
the waiver requirements of Johnson v. Zerbst, supra,

53

had been satisfied, it carried the very heavy burden of
proving that Edwards was quite conscious of his right to
counsel, and voluntarily chose to forego counsel’s help.
The Arizona Supreme Court, while concluding that Ed-
wards’ statements were voluntarily made, did not deter-
mine whether an effective waiver of the Sixth Amend-
ment right to the assistance of counsel was made and,
conceding for the moment that the statement itself was
voluntarily made, it was clearly unaccompanied by any
voluntary relinquishment of counsel’s help.*’

This Court has never found a valid waiver of the
right to counsel, during a critical stage interrogation, oc-
curring after commencement of prosecution. Under
most circumstances, the issue of waiver of counsel arises
in court, and a decision is reached by a judge, before
the proceeding occurs for which a waiver of counsel is
contemplated. This Court has imposed upon judges con-
sidering such waivers the ‘‘solemn duty ... to make a
thorough inquiry and to take all steps necessary to in-
sure the fullest protection of this constitutional right at

*’ The State court did inject a troublesome procedural quirk into
the case when it determined, as a matter of Arizona criminal pro-
cedure, that a waiver of counsel existed. Edwards had argued that
Ariz. R. Crim. P. 6.1(c), which required a waiver of right to
counsel to be ‘‘in writing after the court has ascertained that he
knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily desires to forego them

..’’, applied to the right to counsel guaranteed ‘‘as soon as feasi-
ble after being taken into custody’’. Ariz. R. Crim. P. 6.1(a) (17
Ariz. Rev. Stat. Annot.). The Supreme Court agreed that the
language of the Rule, on its face, required such a written waiver ap-
proved by the court, but held, on the basis of its prior cases, that
no such formal waiver was required (J.A. 19-20; 122 Ariz. at 212).

54

every stage of the proceedings’’, Von Moltke v. Gillies,
332 U.S. 708, 722 (1948).

Of course, in some circumstances, the argument of
waiver simply could not be made. E.g., Massiah v.
United States, 377 U.S. 201 (1964); United States v.
Henry, U.S. (No. 79-121, June 16, 1980).
In Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387 (1977), this Court
held that no waiver of the right to counsel had been
established. Williams had had several Miranda warnings
given to him, and had conferred with counsel at least
once by telephone and twice in person, before Captain
Leaming gave the ‘‘Christian burial’’ speech, which
elicited Williams’ damaging admissions. The record in
this case falls short of that in Williams, in establishing
the level of comprehension by Edwards of his right to
counsel, and the extent of the volition that he exercised
in making the statements without waiting to consult with
counsel. In addition, here, unlike Williams, Edwards
had not yet been able to speak with counsel; he was
reinterrogated by Marmion and Milne after an overnight
stay in ‘‘the hole’’; he was called out to the jail inter-
view room over his objections; and although he men-
tioned, according to Marmion’s testimony, that he did
not yet have a lawyer, he apparently said nothing about
giving up his prior request, or being willing to forego
the advice of a lawyer. Finally, the statements that Ed-
wards made about talking with Marmion (‘‘I’ll tell you
what you want to know but I don’t want it tape record-
ed because I don’t want it used against me in a court of
law,’’ (J.A. 53)) hardly indicates a state of mind in

55

which Edwards had reconciled to his satisfication how
the assistance of counsel would help him or hinder him
in dealing with an interrogation by the detectives, and in
preserving the opportunity to engage in _ plea
bargaining.**

Like Brewer v. Williams, supra, this is a case ‘‘in
which the police deliberately took advantage of an in-
herently coercive setting in the absence of counsel’’,
Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. at 414, n. 2, and an
affirmance or a finding of valid waiver of the right to
counsel would substantially erode ‘‘the individual’s ef-
fective representation by counsel’’. Jd., at 415 (Stevens,
| *

The showing necessary for a waiver of counsel has
been equated to that required to show a waiver of the
right to trial by jury, to confront one’s accusers, or
necessary to support a plea of guilty, Boykin v.
Alabama, 395 U.S. 238 (1969). But there was no such
waiver proven in this case.

CONCLUSION

The challenged confession arose after Edwards had
been charged by criminal complaint, arrested, taken into
custody and was awaiting arraignment and trial. The in-
terrogation was not undertaken to seek additional

** Edwards’ tetimony at the Suppression Hearing also indicates
confusion about the meaning of the word ‘‘statement’’. As is not
surprising for a secret interrogation, the evidence of what, precisely,
Edwards said and understood on that morning was not memorializ-
ed in any direct, contemporaneous record. See footnote 20, supra.

56

suspects or to solve the crime. The trial was ‘‘old and
cold’’. Edwards knew when he was arrested that he
needed the help of counsel, and he concluded that he
would not make a statement until he had counsel’s help.
Whether based upon the Fifth and Sixth Amendment
aspects of Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, or upon
the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to the
assistance of counsel at every critical stage leading up to
the prosecution, to leave undisturbed what resulted in
this case would be to stand by while ‘‘the secret trial in
the police precincts effectively supplants the public trial
guaranteed by the Bill of Rights’. Spano v. New York,
360 U.S. 315, 326 (1959) (Douglas, J., concurring). It is,
therefore, respectfully requested that the judgment of
the Arizona Supreme Court be reversed and that the
case be remanded for further proceedings consistent
with this Court’s opinion.

Respectfully submitted,

MICHAEL J. MEEHAN

Post Office Box 2268
Tucson, Arizona 85702
(602) 622-3531

Court-appointed Counsel
for Petitioner

---

Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA40835006_2656%3A06. Public record. Not legal advice.
