STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
STEVE GUTHRIE, APPELLEE

Fla. 2d DCA | 1995-12-29
No. 94-03721
THREADGILL, C.J., and DANAHY, J., concur.
666 So. 2d 562 Florida District Court of Appeal, Second District (1995) Negative Treatment
Cited by 22 cases

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Holding

The invocation of the constitutional right to counsel bars uncounseled interrogation during continuous custody on unrelated charges unless initiated by the defendant.


Headnotes

[1] Invocation of the constitutional right to counsel bars uncounseled interrogation during continuous custody unless initiated by the defendant.

[2] Once an accused invokes the right to counsel, police may not interrogate even as to unrelated charges until counsel has been made available, unless the accused initiates…

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Facts & Procedural History

Steve Guthrie, after being arrested and signing an 'Invocation of Constitutional Rights' form asserting his right to counsel, was later interrogated b…

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Opinion of the Court
BLUE, Judge.

BLUE, Judge.

The State of Florida appeals the circuit court’s order granting Steve Guthrie’s motion to suppress statements. The state contends the circuit court erred in finding that Guthrie’s signed invocation of rights form prevented the use of Guthrie’s confession obtained by police-initiated interrogation while Guthrie was in custody on unrelated charges. We affirm the circuit court’s ruling because invocation of the constitutional right to counsel bars uncounseled interrogation during continuous custody unless initiated by the defendant.

On October 27, 1993, at approximately 12:30 a.m., Guthrie was arrested for grand theft auto and on an out-of-state warrant. At 8:00 a.m. on the same day, he was taken to a first appearance hearing where he signed an “Invocation of Constitutional Rights” which stated (in pertinent part):

The undersigned, having been advised that I have been arrested and charged with a delinquent act/crime, do hereby invoke my RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT under the 5th Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 9 of the Florida Constitution.

Furthermore, I do hereby invoke my RIGHT TO COUNSEL guaranteed by Article I, Section 16 of the Florida Constitution; Rule 3.130, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure; and the 5th and 6th Amendments to the United States Constitution, as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 16 L.Ed.2d 694, 86 S.Ct. 1602 (1966); Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 68 L.Ed.2d 378,101 S.Ct. 1880 (1981); and McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U.S. 171, 115 L.Ed.2d 158, 111 S.Ct. 2204 (1991).

By invocation of my 5th Amendment RIGHT TO COUNSEL, under the Miranda and Edwards decisions, I intend this to be an absolute expression of my desire for the assistance of an attorney in dealing with any custodial interrogation by the police about this arrest or any other crime or criminal activity under investigation.

Therefore, I demand that no local, State or Federal police or prosecution personnel (including jail inmates acting at the request or direction of such personnel), attempt to engage me in any conversation whatsoever, concerning any crime or criminal activity, without first providing me an attorney and having that attorney present. This Invocation of Rights shall not be deemed to have been waived by me unless an attorney has been provided to me, either retained or appointed, and I execute a written waiver of these rights, signed by myself and my attorney. Anyone violating this INVOCATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS will be subject to legal action for sanctions and/or damages.

I further demand that the original of this Invocation of Rights be filed in the Court having jurisdiction of this cause and copies be served on all local, State and Federal law enforcement agencies, including the State Attorney’s Office, with instructions that they have no contact with me unless my attorney is present.

Approximately seven hours later, two detectives came to the jail and asked to speak to Guthrie about allegations of sexual child abuse. Guthrie agreed to talk to the detectives. He was taken from the jail to the sheriffs office where he signed a waiver of Miranda rights and gave a statement admitting the allegations.

Subsequently, Guthrie filed a motion to suppress this confession based on the pri-or invocation of his federal and state constitutional rights, which the circuit court granted. We conclude that the circuit court’s ruling properly followed the holdings of McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U.S. 171, 111 S.Ct. 2204, 115 L.Ed.2d 158 (1991); Arizona v. Roberson, 486 U.S. 675, 108 S.Ct. 2093, 100 L.Ed.2d 704 (1988); Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 101 S.Ct. 1880, 68 L.Ed.2d 378 (1981); and Traylor v. State, 596 So. 2d 957 (Fla.1992) (once an accused invokes his Fifth Amendment right to counsel, police may not interrogate even as to unrelated charges until counsel has been made available, unless the accused initiates the contact).

We are aware that this ruling may conflict with Sapp v. State, 660 So. 2d 1146 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995). Initially, we point out that Guthrie relies on provisions contained in the United States and Florida Constitutions. Sapp specifically made no state law claim. Sapp, 660 So. 2d at 1150. As we understand the ruling in Sapp, the First District held that the Fifth Amendment right to counsel cannot be invoked until the state begins custodial interrogation. According to Sapp, any request to be represented by an attorney during questioning is ineffective if made pri-or to the reading of Miranda rights at the time law enforcement seeks to question the defendant. It appears the basis for this ruling is footnote 3 in McNeil, which we consider dicta. We cannot agree with the holding in Sapp because it seriously undermines the clearly established right to counsel during custodial interrogation under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. See Miranda.

A defendant, having declared in plain terms that he does not wish to be questioned without assistance of his attorney, could be removed from the jail, taken to an interrogation room without notice to counsel, and required again to insist on the right to counsel while facing alone the authority of the state.

The state’s argument, that allowing the invocation of rights prior to interrogation would lead to invoking the right to counsel prior to arrest or even the commission of a crime, is without merit. Custodial interrogation triggers a defendant’s right to counsel and there is no logical reason why the right to counsel could not be validly invoked upon the defendant being placed in custody. See Roberson, 486 U.S. at 687, 108 S.Ct. at 2101.

We affirm the circuit court’s decision suppressing Guthrie’s statements. To the extent that our decision conflicts with Sapp, we certify the conflict to the Florida Supreme Court.

THREADGILL, C.J., and DANAHY, J., concur. . Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).


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Citator

Cited By

  • Sapp v. State, 690 So. 2d 581 (Fla. 1997)
    …other. We have considered Sapp’s other arguments and find them to be without merit. Accordingly, we answer the certified question in the negative and approve the decision of the district court. We also disapprove the decision in State v. Guthrie, 666 So. 2d 562 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995), which conflicts with the opinion expressed above. It is so ordered. OVERTON, HARDING and WELLS, JJ., concur. ANSTEAD, J., dissents with an opinion, in which KOGAN, C.J., and SHAW, J., concur. . We note that the Second Distric…
    1 / 3
  • Ault v. State, 866 So. 2d 674 (Fla. 2003)
    …cordingly, this Court answered the certified question in the negative and approved the decision of the First District in Sapp. Id. at 586. In Sapp, this Court also disapproved the decision of the Second District Court of Appeal in State v. Guthrie, 666 So. 2d 562 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995), quashed, 692 So. 2d 888 (Fla.1997), which was in conflict with the Court’s decision in Sapp. 690 So. 2d at 586. In Guthrie, the Second District held that a defendant’s claim-of-rights form signed at a first appearance hearing on…
  • Hess v. State, 794 So. 2d 1249 (Fla. 2001)
    …e Attorney, on April 4, 1995. The exact circumstances under which this document was signed were not established in the record.12 [*1260] In argument to the trial court, defense counsel stated that his motion was based entirely upon State v. Guthrie, 666 So. 2d 562 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995).13 The trial court denied the motion by order dated April 9, 1996. This Court subsequently disapproved Guthrie in Sapp v. State, 690 So. 2d 581 (Fla.1997). In Sapp, this Court held that an accused may not effectively invoke the ri…

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