Arizona v. Roberson (486 U.S. 675)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided June 15, 1988 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 486 U.S. 675 · 108 S. Ct. 2093
- Decided
- June 15, 1988
- Term
- October Term 1987
- Vote
- 6–2
- Majority author
- Justice Stevens
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court. In Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U. S. 477, 484-485 (1981), we held that a suspect who has “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 the accused himself initiates further communication, exchanges, or conversations with the police.” In this case Arizona asks us to craft an exception to that rule for cases in which the police want to interrogate a suspect about an offense that is unrelated to the subject of their initial interrogation. Several years ago the Arizona Supreme Court considered, and rejected, a similar argument, stating: “The only difference between Edwards and the appellant is that Edwards was questioned about the same offense after a request for counsel while the appellant was reinterrogated about an unrelated offense. We do not believe that this factual distinction holds any legal significance for fifth amendment purposes. ” State v. Routhier, 137 Ariz. 90, 97, 669 P. 2d 68, 75 (1983), cert. denied, 464 U. S. 1073 (1984). We agree with the Arizona Supreme Court’s conclusion. PH On April 16, 1985, respondent was arrested at the scene of a just-completed burglary. The arresting officer advised him that he had a constitutional right to remain silent and also the right to have an…
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