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Texas Supreme Court upholds juvenile's right to counsel

By Shawn Matlock

In an opinion issued today, the Texas Supreme Court did something it had only ever done one time before. It talked about Miranda. The Texas Supreme Court is a civil court. It doesn't hear criminal cases. Usually. As of 2003, the State can appeal pretrial suppression orders in certain circumstances in juvenile cases. Since juvenile cases are considered civil in nature, the Supreme Court gets to hear them. In the Matter of H.V. is a juvenile murder case dating back to September 2003, and is the first appeal to be heard by the Court under the new statute. The issues were whether the juvenile unambiguously invoked his right to counsel and whether the gun found as a result of the interrogation should be admitted. The trial court ordered both the statement and the gun suppressed...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Matlock Blog on April 11, 2008 (boomark / email).