Summary:
Does a lawyer hired by a family member (or some other 3rd party) have the right to interrupt an interrogation (at minimum make contact with the suspect) without the suspect invoking right to counsel? (I know the lawyer doesn’t really have the rights, maybe it should be worded “does the suspect have the right to be allowed contact from a lawyer hired by someone on his/her behalf”)
Details:
Scenario (from a show like 20/20):
Person is voluntarily answering questions with the police at the station about his wife’s shooting death in their home. Dad finds out and hires a lawyer and dad and lawyer go to the police station but it’s after hours and the doors are locked, so the police ignore them and continue questioning.
Some people in our group watching the show thought the police did something either illegal or at least immoral. I was arguing that the person would need to invoke right to counsel otherwise any old lawyer could just hop into any old interview room and claim to be representing that person, and/or, any suspect could find all kinds of loopholes about how the questioning was illegal because the unknown lawyer was somehow supposed to be in the mix.
After googling, I now know you must be in custody or not free to leave to have a right to counsel, but I would like to know what is allowed/not allowed in both types of situations.
My opinion; The suspect has the right to counsel, the counsel has no right to a client. Assuming the cops advised the suspect of his rights, then it (the questioning) seems fine to me.
You realize that under Salinas remaining silent is not invoking your right to remain silent so I suspect you likewise need to specifically invoke your right to counsel.
The OP said the subject was voluntarily answering questions. Does that mean he went to the PD voluntarily also?
If the subject is not under arrest and is free to go, Miranda rights do not have to be given. Also, if the subject is not under arrest and is free to leave they can say they want an attorney all they want, they do not have to be provided one. They can say “I’m not answering any more questions until my attorney is present”. But if they are not under arrest and free to leave the cops can continue asking questions as long as the subject chooses to remain.
The locked out thing might be an issue only if the subject was made to feel he was not allowed to leave.
Lots of smaller communities have police stations that aren’t manned 24/7. Many times on the night shift it’s just 1 officer on and they’re out on patrol. Some small towns don’t have a 3rd shift for their PD and contract with the county sheriff to respond to calls after hours.
Usually though, there is a telephone number at the door of the PD to call 24 hours.
I once worked for a city of 4800 and from 4pm-8am the city hall and police dept were closed. There was only one officer on duty for the 2nd/3rd shifts and dispatching was switched over to the county sheriffs office. If you went to the PD after 4 and the officer on duty was out, there were 2 telephone numbers on the door to call, a non-emergency and 911. Both went to the county dispatcher.
If we needed backup a sheriffs deputy or a state trooper could be over 20 minutes away.:eek:
Yes he went voluntarily and was not in custody. He was actually scheduled to join the Sheriffs department in a month, his wife was daughter of the Sheriff. He said he understood he was suspect number one and wanted to be cooperative and clear himself immediately.
Yes it was a small town in Iowa. The show interviewed the detective and he confirmed they were pounding on the door, but because it was after hours he said he wasn’t required to open the door.
I saw the show too, and had the same questions. While I don’t think the police did anything illegal, it seems unethical. The police were aware the father didn’t want his son answering questions without a lawyer, and they knew the lawyer was on his way. They decided to ‘get tough’ with him before the lawyer arrived and purposely didn’t let the lawyer in so they could keep questioning the suspect.
Even if the doors had been unlocked, I still wonder about whether the police have any obligation to interrupt the questioning and let the suspect know that someone wants to talk to him.