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NATURE OF CASE:
CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF RHODE ISLAND
BRIEF OF THE CASE:
In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court, in an important ruling,
defined for the first time the meaning of "interrogation" under
Miranda v. Arizona.
FACTS
On the night of 12 January 1975, John Mulvaney, a Providence,
Rhode Island taxicab driver, disappeared after being dispatched to
pick up a customer. His body was discovered 4 days later buried in
a shallow grave in Coventry, Rhode Island. He had died from a
shotgun blast aimed at the back of his head. On 17 January 1975,
shortly after midnight, the Providence police received a telephone
call from Gerald Aubin, also a taxicab driver, who reported that he
had just been robbed by a man wielding a sawed-off shotgun. Aubin
further reported that he had dropped off his assailant near Rhode
Island College in a section of Providence known as Mount Pleasant.
While at the Providence police station waiting to give a statement,
Aubin noticed a picture of his assailant on a bulletin board. Aubin so
informed one of the police officers present. The officer prepared a
photo array, and again Aubin identified a picture of the same
person. That person was Innis.
Shortly thereafter, the Providence police began a search of the
Mount Pleasant area. At approximately 4:30 a.m. on the same date,
Patrolman Lovell, while cruising the streets of Mount Pleasant in a
patrol car, spotted Innis standing in the street facing him. When
Patrolman Lovell stopped his car, Innis walked towards it. Patrolman
Lovell then arrested Innis, who was unarmed, and advised him of
his so-called Miranda rights. While the two men waited in the patrol
car for other police officers to arrive, Patrolman Lovell did not
converse with Innis other than to respond to the latter's request for
a cigarette. Within minutes, Sergeant Sears arrived at the scene of
the arrest, and he also gave Innis the Miranda warnings.
Immediately thereafter, Captain Leyden and other police officers
arrived. Captain Leyden advised Innis of his Miranda rights. Innis
stated that he understood those rights and wanted to speak with a
lawyer. Captain Leyden then directed that Innis be placed in a
"caged wagon," a 4-door police car with a wire screen mesh
between the front and rear seats, and be driven to the central
police station. 3 officers, Patrolmen Gleckman, Williams, and
McKenna, were assigned to accompany Innis to the central station.
They placed Innis in the vehicle and shut the doors.
Captain Leyden then instructed the officers not to question Innis or
intimidate or coerce him in any way. The three officers then entered
the vehicle, and it departed.
While en route to the central station, Patrolman Gleckman initiated
a conversation with Patrolman McKenna concerning the missing
shotgun. Innis then interrupted the conversation, stating that the
officers should turn the car around so he could show them where
the gun was located.
At this point, Patrolman McKenna radioed back to Captain Leyden
that they were returning to the scene of the arrest, and that Innis
would inform them of the location of the gun. At the time Innis
indicated that the officers should turn back, they had traveled no
more than a mile, a trip encompassing only a few minutes. The
police vehicle then returned to the scene of the arrest where a
search for the shotgun was in progress. There, Captain Leyden
again advised Innis of his Miranda rights. Innis replied that he
understood those rights but that he "wanted to get the gun out of
the way because of the kids in the area in the school." Innis then
led the police to a nearby field, where he pointed out the shotgun
under some rocks by the side of the road.
On 20 March 1975, a grand jury returned an indictment charging
Innis with the kidnaping, robbery, and murder of John Mulvaney.
Before trial, Innis moved to suppress the shotgun and the
statements he had made to the police regarding it. After an
evidentiary hearing at which Innis elected not to testify, the trial