Two big developments at the United States Supreme Court. First, President Obama nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace Justice David Souter. The New York Times story is here, some News and Observer coverage is here, and SCOTUSblog has some interesting tidbits here. This post will focus not on Judge Sotomayor -- who, most think, won't change the balance of the Court much -- but on a significant criminal procedure decision that the Court issued yesterday. The case is Montejo v. Louisiana, and you can read it here. The defendant in Montejo was arrested for murder. He went to court for a "72 hour hearing," as required by Louisiana law, and was appointed a lawyer as a matter of course. That same day, officers went to the jail, obtained a Miranda waiver from the defendant, and questioned him, obtaining, among other things, an "inculpatory letter of apology to the victim's widow." The state sought to introduce the letter, and the defendant argued that it was obtained in violation of Michigan v. Jackson, 475 U.S. 625 (1986), which held that "if police initiate interrogation after a defendant's assertion, at an arraignment or similar proceeding, of his right to counsel, any waiver of the defendant's right to counsel for that police-initiated interrogation is invalid." The trial court admitted the letter, and the state supreme court affirmed, ruling that the defendant had never "asserted" his right to counsel at the 72 hour hearing, but rather had stood silent while counsel was appointed, and thus Jackson [...]
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