Detailed Notes on Sixth Amendment Rights

Overview of the Sixth Amendment

Applies after formal charging (indictment or arraignment).
Generally covered in advanced criminal procedure courses.
Criminal procedure divided into investigation and trial stages.

Rights Under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments

Fifth Amendment Right to Counsel

  • Arises during custodial interrogation.

  • Right exists before charges are filed.

  • Focus on protection during questioning.

Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel

  • Attaches once formal criminal proceedings have begun (post-charging).

  • Ensures assistance of counsel for defense.

  • Does not attach until the accused is charged.

  • No Sixth Amendment right to counsel prior to charges.

Key Cases and Concepts

Bici Case (1964 - Messiah)

  • Sixth Amendment rights are violated if incriminating statements are elicited by government agents after formal charges in the absence of counsel.

Triggers for Sixth Amendment safeguards:

  1. Commencement of adversarial proceedings.

  2. Deliberate elicitation by government agents.

Important Concepts

  • Right to counsel applies automatically after charges are filed.

  • Right is offense-specific, applies only to the crime charged, not related offenses.

  • Waiver of right must be knowing, intelligent, and voluntary (as established in the Patterson case, 1988).

  • Police must not prevent access to an attorney if the right has attached.

Police Interrogation and the Sixth Amendment
Police questioning after charging:

  • Accused has a right to counsel, even if they don’t request it.

  • Waiving this right still applies for subsequent questioning if the waiver is valid.

Bloom v. Williams Case:

  • Incriminating statements elicited during informal conversation violated Sixth Amendment due to the absence of counsel.

Brewer Case:

  • Right to counsel also applies in state prosecutions under the 14th Amendment due process clause.

  • Need to assess the officer's intent and whether their actions were designed to elicit confessions.

Elicitation of Statements
Test from Brewer Case:

  • Nature of efforts (deliberate or intentional).

  • Officer’s state of mind regarding intent to elicit information.

Informant Cases:

  • United States v. Henry (1980): Active stimulation of conversation violated rights, prompting incriminating statements.

  • Coleman Case (1986): Passive listening deemed acceptable, no constitutional violation if the informant does not actively elicit statements.

Exclusionary Rule and Sixth Amendment

  • Statements made after initiation of conversation when counsel is requested may be admissible for impeachment purposes, but not as part of the prosecution's case in chief.

  • Fruit of the Poisonous Tree Doctrine:

    • Generally, statements and evidence from a Sixth Amendment violation are inadmissible, but exceptions exist (e.g., independent source doctrine).

No Public Safety Exception

  • Unlike the Fifth Amendment, there is no public safety exception allowing for questioning without counsel under the Sixth Amendment.

Attachment of Rights

  • Right attaches automatically post-indictment, even if the law enforcement officers are unaware of the indictment.

  • Reaffirms that eliciting statements after charges constitute a violation of rights regardless of officer awareness of the indictment.