In a case
in Louisiana a suspect in a case said the following: “if
y’all, this is how I feel, if y’all think I did it, I know that I
didn’t do it so why don’t you just give me a lawyer dog cause
this is not what’s up.” There seems to be a dispute about the
exact verbiage as he later claimed that he said “lawyer, Dawg”
and not lawyer dog.
If a person in police custody asks for
a lawyer the police are prohibited from asking any questions until a
lawyer representing the suspect is present. This right is part of
the “Miranda rights” which protect suspects from incriminating
due to undue pressure from the police. Upon a request for a lawyer,
police must stop all questioning of a suspect. In order to obtain
this protection, the request cannot be ambiguios or equivocal.
Unless it is a clear request it won't stop the police from
questioning the suspect. If the police think a person might be
requesting a lawyer instead of thinking that he did request a lawyer
then they can question the suspect.
In the Louisiana case the police
continued their interrogation and used the suspect's answers to
convict him of a crime. At trial and on appeal, his lawyer claimed
that he requsted the police get him a lawyer. The courts did not
view this as a clear, unequivocable request for a lawyer and allowed
his incriminating statements to be used to convict him.
When a person in police custody
requests a lawyer they should do so clearly and without conditions.
They should not use slang or street language. They should never
combine a request for a lawyer with an insult to the police. Anytime
someone is questioned by the police they should have a lawyer
present.
