Uh Oh (from the Oregon Supreme Court press release)
by: Ryan • March 3, 2014 • no comments
On February 28, 2014, the Supreme Court:
Allowed the petition for review in:
State of Oregon v. Celso Avila-Nava (S061802) (A146527) (appeal from Washington County Circuit Court; opinion reported at 257 Or App 364, 306 P3d 752 (2013)).
The State of Oregon has been granted review of a Court of Appeals decision that reversed and remanded the convictions of defendant Celso Avila-Nava based upon the trial court's admission into evidence of statements made by defendant that he contends were unlawfully elicited after he had invoked his right to remain silent.
On review, the issues are:
(1) When a suspect says words that may be an unequivocal invocation of the Miranda right to remain silent, must an officer cease questioning if the suspect's intonation, demeanor, and other surrounding circumstances would cause a reasonable officer to doubt whether the suspect was unequivocally invoking the right to remain silent?
(2) If a non-English speaking suspect utters words that may be an unequivocal invocation of the Miranda right to remain silent, may an officer nonetheless continue to discuss the Miranda rights with the suspect if the officer reasonably believes that the suspect does not understand the rights?
