Justia Civil Rights Opinion Summaries

In district court, appellant was convicted of aiding and abetting first-degree premeditated murder. At issue was whether the district court erred when it denied appellantâs pretrial motion to suppress statements made to law enforcement officials after appellant allegedly invoked his state and federal constitutional rights to remain silent and to have counsel present during custodial interrogation. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) an invocation of the right to remain silent is ambiguous if the suspectâs statement could be interpreted as either a general refusal to answer any questions or as an expression of unwillingness to discuss a specific topic, and (2) when a suspect makes an equivocal invocation of the right to counsel, providing the suspect with a Miranda warning is sufficient as a matter of law to satisfy Minnesotaâs âstop and clarifyâ rule.