Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 2, 1993 TAG: 9311020165
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The justices will use murder cases from California and South Carolina to clarify what is still an often-disputed part of law enforcement - the legal protections accorded people being questioned by police. Decisions in both cases are expected by July.
The court's 1966 ruling in Miranda vs. Arizona requires police nationwide to warn suspects before questioning them while in custody that they have a right to remain silent or get a lawyer's help and that anything they say may be used against them.
Generations of movies and television shows have made the warnings famous.
Later high court rulings require all police questioning to stop when criminal suspects invoke their right to have a lawyer's help and bar police from initiating any subsequent interrogation.
But what should police do when a suspect utters what could be an ambiguous request for legal help? Lower courts have reached differing conclusions.
The U.S. Court of Military Appeals upheld Robert Davis' murder conviction, ruling that Navy investigators correctly asked him to clarify his wishes after Davis responded to a question by wondering aloud whether he should talk to a lawyer.
Davis was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the Oct. 3, 1988, murder of Keith Shackleton, a sailor at Charleston Navy Base in South Carolina.
Prosecutors said Davis killed Shackleton by beating him with a pool cue after Shackleton had lost a game of pool and refused to pay off a $30 wager. Davis quickly became a suspect. He was questioned after waiving his Miranda rights. But about 80 minutes into the interrogation, he said, "Maybe I should talk to a lawyer."
Naval Investigative Service agents said they immediately stopped questioning Davis and sought to clarify his request. They testified that Davis was asked whether he wanted a lawyer, and that he responded by saying, "No, I'm not asking for a lawyer."
The Court of Military Appeals upheld the use as evidence of everything Davis told the investigators after making his comment about talking to a lawyer.
In other matters Monday, the court:
Refused to let Colorado enforce its anti-gay-rights amendment while state courts consider it.
Agreed to decide in a case from Mississippi whether federal juries must be told a defendant will be committed to a mental hospital, and not be freed, if found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Said it will decide in a New York case what states can do to stop people from avoiding cigarette taxes by buying cigarettes on Indian reservations.
Let Florida judges block public access to court records in some criminal cases by refusing, without comment, to hear an appeal by newspapers in that state.
Backed out of deciding the case of a Pennsylvania man sentenced to five years in prison for buying videos of young girls striking seductive poses while wearing clothes. The court ordered further study after noting the Clinton administration has narrowed its definition of hard-core child pornography.
Turned down the appeal of a Wisconsin boy who won, and then lost, $1.1 million from the doctor who tried to abort him 14 years ago.
by CNB