Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
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State v. Dix, 194 N.C. App. 151 (Dec. 2, 2008)
The defendant’s statement, “I’m probably gonna have to have a lawyer,” was not an invocation of his right to counsel. The defendant had already expressed a desire to tell his side of the story and was asked to wait until they got to the station. Notwithstanding this, he gave a brief unsolicited statement to one officer while en route to the station, and this statement was relayed to the questioning officer. The questioning officer reasonably expected the defendant to continue their former conversation and proceed with the statement he apparently wished to make. Thus, when the defendant made the remark, the officer was understandably unsure of the defendant’s purpose, and followed up with an attempt to clarify the defendant’s intentions, at which point the defendant agreed to talk.