6th Amendment Right to Counsel Flashcards
Massiah v. US
May a government agent testify to defendant’s incriminating statements that the agent overheard, via an informer with an electronic recording device, without the knowledge of defendant, when the informer does not testify at trial?
No. Justice Potter Stewart, writing for a 6-3 majority, reversed and remanded. The Supreme Court held that incriminating statements deliberately elicited by federal agents in the absence of counsel after the proceeding has begun violate the Sixth Amendment. The prosecution could not use these statements as evidence against Massiah. Justice Byron R. White dissented, arguing that the statements should be admitted because they were voluntarily made and not coerced. The absence of counsel was only one factor among many the court should consider in this situation.
Brewer v. Williams
An effective waiver requires actual relinquishment of a right. If a defendant consistently relies on the advice of counsel in dealing with the police, any suggestion that he waived his right to counsel is refuted. Under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments, a person has a right to counsel at or after the time that judicial proceedings have been initiated against him.
