Federal Judiciary

Court to rule on police questioning

By Akin Gump Supreme Court Practice Group

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to clarify the power of police to resume questioning of a suspect, if there is a time lapse between the individual’s request for a lawyer and the start of new interrogation – in this case, a lapse of more than two years. This was one of three newly granted cases.  Another will test the right to appeal immediately a judge’s pre-trial order requiring disclosure in a civil trial of confidential attorney-client communications.  The third will resolve the standard a federal appeals court is to use in weighing the sufficiency of evidence in a state criminal case.

Because the briefing schedule was not expedited in any of these cases, it is likely that they will not be heard until the next Term, which opens Oct. 5.

The new police interrogation case is Maryland v. Shatzer (08-680).  The attorney-client privilege issue arises in Mohawk Industries v. Carpenter (08-678).  The evidence case is McDaniel v. Brown (08-559).

Full post as published by SCOTUSBLOG on January 26, 2009 (boomark / email).