Criminal-Procedure.com
Interrogation
Introduction
An interrogation is any express questioning or functional equivalent by police officers that the officers should have known was likely to elicit an incriminating response. Two aspects of this definition require a brief explanation.
First, regarding the "express questioning or functional equivalent," although the definition of "express questioning" may be obvious, the definition of "functional equivalent" may be more convoluted. The case of Rhode Island v. Innis, 446 U.S. 291 (1980) provides one example of "functional equivalent." In Innis, after police officers arrested a suspect and informed him of his Miranda rights, the suspect subsequently invoked his right to speak to an attorney. Typically, a suspect's request to speak to a lawyer typically would prevent any admissions resulting from the officers' questioning absent an attorney. The officers avoided asking specific questions, however, by discussing the suspect's shotgun, and how there existed a nearby school for handicapped children that would include children who may injure themselves if they discovered the firearm. The suspect then volunteered the location of the shotgun.
The United States Supreme Court held that although the officers never asked any specific questions to the suspect after he invoked his right to an attorney, the officers nevertheless violated his Fifth Amendment rights because the officers' conduct amounted to an interrogation, because they should have known their conduct was likely to elicit an incriminating response from the suspect.
Similarly . . .
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Page last updated: 2/17/2007
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