Civilian Approaches

At the close of the 1963 term, the United States Supreme Court decided two cases involving the relationship between police interrogation of a suspected criminal offender and the sixth amendment right to counsel. In Massiah v. United States,1 it was held that, once indicted, the defendant is entitled to the assistance of counsel, and that incriminating statements elicited from the accused during this period may not be admitted into evidence; subsequently, the Court held in Escobedo v. Illinois' that the accused may not be denied the assistance of counsel during the interrogation stage of a police investigation, even though he has not yet been formally charged.

The sixth amendment to the Federal Constitution provides: "In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right ... to have the assistance of Counsel for his defense."' It is a source of protection to the accused in Federal, and, through the fourteenth amendment, state proceedings as well...

See Also: The Right to Counsel during Police Interrogation: The Aftermath of Escobedo (3944 downloads )