Smith v. Illinois

• Decision Date: 10 December 1984
• Docket Number: No. 84-5332,84-5332
• Citation: 469 U.S. 91,105 S.Ct. 490,83 L.Ed.2d 488
• Parties: Steven SMITH v. ILLINOIS
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

469 U.S. 91

105 S.Ct. 490

83 L.Ed.2d 488

Steven SMITH

v ILLINOIS.

No. 84-5332.

Dec. 10, 1984.

PER CURIAM.

The petitioner Steven Smith was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to a 9-year prison term. He contends that the police improperly elicited a confession from him after he clearly had requested the assistance of counsel, and that the trial court's refusal to suppress the confession therefore violated Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), and Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981). The Illinois Supreme Court held that Smith's responses to continued police questioning rendered his initial request for counsel "ambiguous," and that the officers therefore were not required to terminate their questioning. 102 Ill.2d 365, 373-374, 80 Ill.Dec. 784, 788, 466 N.E.2d 236, 240 (1984). Under Miranda and Edwards, however, an accused's postrequest responses to further interrogation may not be used to cast doubt on the clarity of his initial request for counsel. Finding no ambiguity in Smith's initial request, we accordingly grant the petition and reverse.

I

Shortly after his arrest, 18-year-old Steven Smith was taken to an interrogation room at the Logan County Safety Complex for questioning by two police detectives. The session began as follows:

"Q. Steve, I want to talk with you in reference to the armed robbery that took place at McDonald's restaurant on the morning of the 19th. Are you familiar with this?

"A. Yeah. My cousin Greg was.

"Q. Okay. But before I do that I must advise you of your rights. Okay? You have a right to remain silent. You do not have to talk to me unless you want to do so. Do you understand that?

"A. Uh. She told me to get my lawyer. She said you guys would railroad me.¹

"Q. Do you understand that as I gave it to you, Steve?

"A. Yeah.

"Q. If you do want to talk to me I must advise you that whatever you say can and will be used against you in court. Do you understand that?

"A. Yeah.

"Q. You have a right to consult with a lawyer and to have a lawyer present with you when you're being questioned. Do you understand that?

"A. Uh, yeah. I'd like to do that.

"Q. Okay." 102 Ill.2d, at 368-369, 80 Ill.Dec., at 786, 466 N.E.2d, at 238 (emphasis in opinion).

Instead of terminating the questioning at this point, the interrogating officers proceeded to finish reading Smith his Miranda rights and then pressed him again to answer their questions:

"Q. . . . If you want a lawyer and you're unable to pay for one a lawyer will be appointed to represent you free of cost, do you understand that?

"A. Okay.

"Q. Do you wish to talk to me at this time without a lawyer being present?

"A. Yeah and no, uh, I don't know what's what, really.

"Q. Well. You either have [to agree ] to talk to me this time without a lawyer being present and if you do agree to talk with me without a lawyer being present you can stop at any time you want to.

"Q. All right. I'll talk to you then." Id., 102 Ill.2d, at 369, 80 Ill.Dec., at 786, 466 N.E.2d, at 238 (emphasis in opinion). (bracketed words appear in Tr. 230).

Smith then told the detectives that he knew in advance about the planned robbery, but contended that he had not been a participant. After considerable probing by the detectives, Smith confessed that "I committed it," but he then returned to his earlier story that he had only known about the planned crime. 102 Ill.2d, at 369-370, 80 Ill.Dec., at 786, 466 N.E.2d, at 238. Upon further questioning, Smith again insisted that "I wanta get a lawyer." Id., 102 Ill.2d, at 370, 80 Ill.Dec., at 786, 466 N.E.2d, at 238. This time the detectives honored the request and terminated the interrogation.

Smith moved at trial to suppress his incriminating statements, 1 Record 45, but the trial judge denied the motion, 4 Record 231. A transcript of the interrogation was introduced as part of the State's case in chief, and Smith was convicted.

In affirming Smith's conviction, the Appellate Court of Illinois for the Fourth District acknowledged that Smith's first request for counsel "appears clear and unequivocal." 113 Ill.App.3d 305, 310, 69 Ill.Dec. 339, 342, 447 N.E.2d 556, 559 (1983). The court concluded, however, that "when [the request] is considered with other statements—as it should be—it is clear that Smith was undecided about exercising his right to counsel" and "never made an effective request for counsel." Id., 113 Ill.App.3d, at 309-310, 69 Ill.Dec., at 341-342, 447 N.E.2d, at 558-559. Rather, Smith had made "merely an indecisive inquiry into the right to counsel." Id., 113 Ill.App.3d, at 310, 69 Ill.Dec., at 342, 447 N.E.2d, at 559.

The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed in a 4-3 vote. The majority agreed with the lower court that "Smith's statements, considered in total, were ambiguous, and did not effectively invoke his right to counsel." 102 Ill.2d, at 373, 80 Ill.Dec., at 792, 466 N.E.2d, at 240. Specifically, the majority noted that although Smith stated "I'd like to do that" upon learning he had a right to his counsel's presence at the interrogation, Smith subsequently replied "Yeah and no, uh, I don't know what's what really," and "All right. I'll talk to you then." Id., 102 Ill.2d, at 372, 80 Ill.Dec., at 792, 466 N.E.2d, at 240. In light of these subsequent remarks, the majority reasoned, "Steven Smith did not clearly assert his right to counsel." Id., 102 Ill.2d, at 373, 80 Ill.Dec., at 792, 466 N.E.2d, at 240 (emphasis in original).

II

An accused in custody, "having expressed his desire to deal with the police only through counsel, is not subject to further interrogation by the authorities until counsel has been made available to him," unless he validly waives his earlier request for the assistance of counsel. Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S., at 484-485, 101 S.Ct., at 1885.² This "rigid" prophylactic rule, Fare v. Michael C., 442 U.S. 707, 719, 99 S.Ct. 2560, 2569, 61 L.Ed.2d 197 (1979), embodies two distinct inquiries. First, courts must determine whether the accused actually invoked his right to counsel. See, e.g., Edwards v. Arizona, supra, 451 U.S., at 484-485, 101 S.Ct., at 1884-1885 (whether accused "expressed his desire" for, or "clearly asserted" his right to, the assistance of counsel); Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S., at 444-445, 86 S.Ct., at 1612 (whether accused "indicate[d] in any manner and at any stage of the process that he wish[ed] to consult with an attorney before speaking"). Second, if the accused invoked his right to counsel, courts may admit his responses to further questioning only on finding that he (a) initiated further discussions with the police, and (b) knowingly and intelligently waived the right he had invoked. Edwards v. Arizona, supra, 451 U.S., at 485, 486, n. 9, 101 S.Ct., at 1885, n. 9.

This case concerns the threshold inquiry: whether Smith invoked his right to counsel in the first instance. On occasion, an accused's asserted request for counsel may be ambiguous or equivocal. As the majority and dissenting opinions below noted, courts have developed conflicting standards for determining the consequences of such ambiguities. See 102 Ill.2d, at 372-373, 80 Ill.Dec., at 792, 466 N.E.2d, at 240; id., 102 Ill.Dec., at 375-377, 80 Ill.Dec., at 793-794, 466 N.E.2d, at 241-242 (Simon, J., dissenting).³ We need not resolve this conflict in the instant case, however, because the judgment of the Illinois Supreme Court must be reversed irrespective of which standard is applied.

The conflict among courts is addressed to the relevance of alleged ambiguities or equivocations that either (1) precede an accused's purported request for counsel, or (2) are part of the request itself. Neither circumstance pertains here, however. Neither the State nor the courts below, for example, have pointed to anything Smith previously had said that might have cast doubt on the meaning of his statement "I'd like to do that" upon learning that he had the right to his counsel's presence.⁴ Nor have they pointed to anything inherent in the nature of Smith's actual request for counsel that reasonably would have suggested equivocation. As Justice Simon noted in his dissent below, "with the possible exception of the word 'uh' the defendant's statement in this case was neither indecisive nor ambiguous: 'Uh, yeah, I'd like to do that.' " Id., 102 Ill.2d, at 377, 80 Ill.Dec., at 794, 466 N.E.2d, at 242. And the Illinois Appellate Court for the Fourth District itself acknowledged that the statement "appears clear and unequivocal." 113 Ill.App.3d, at 310, 69 Ill.Dec., at 342, 447 N.E.2d, at 559.⁵

The courts below were able to construe Smith's request for counsel as "ambiguous" only by looking to Smith's subsequent responses to continued police questioning and by concluding that, "considered in total," Smith's "statements" were equivocal. 102 Ill.2d, at 373, 80 Ill.Dec., at 792, 466 N.E.2d, at 240 (emphasis added); see also 113 Ill.App.3d, at 310, 69 Ill.Dec., at 342, 447 N.E.2d, at 559.⁶ This line of analysis is unprecedented and untenable. As Justice Simon emphasized below, "[a] statement either is such an assertion [of the right to counsel] or it is not." 102 Ill.2d, at 375, 80 Ill.Dec., at 789, 466 N.E.2d, at 241. Where nothing about the request for counsel or the circumstances leading up to the request would render it ambiguous, all questioning must cease. In these circumstances, an accused's subsequent statements are relevant only to the question whether the accused waived the right he had invoked. Invocation and waiver are entirely distinct inquiries, and the two must not be blurred by merging them together.⁷

The importance of keeping the two inquiries distinct is manifest. Edwards set forth a "bright-line rule" that all questioning must cease after an accused requests counsel. Solem v. Stumes, 465 U.S. 638, 646, 104 S.Ct. 1338, 1343, 79 L.Ed.2d 579 (1984). In the absence of such a bright-line prohibition, the authorities through "badge...