From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Ex Parte Stahl

Supreme Court of Alabama
Jan 21, 1983
426 So. 2d 917 (Ala. 1983)

Opinion

81-791.

January 21, 1983.

Appeal from the Circuit Court, Mobile County, Ferrill D. McRae, J.

Norman J. Gale, Jr. of Clay, Massey Gale, Mobile, for petitioner.

Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen., and Helen P. Nelson, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondent.


Writ quashed as improvidently granted.

By quashing this writ we do not wish to be understood as fully agreeing with the court below on its analysis of Rhode Island v. Innis, 446 U.S. 291, 100 S.Ct. 1682, 64 L.Ed.2d 297 (1980). For while the Court of Criminal Appeals did correctly refer to Innis's recapitulation of an "interrogation" under Miranda, it omitted recognition of a vital aspect of that definition expressed at 100 S.Ct. 1690:

"The latter portion of this definition focuses primarily upon the perceptions of the suspect, rather than the intent of the police. This focus reflects the fact that the Miranda safeguards were designed to vest a suspect in custody with an added measure of protection against coercive police practices, without regard to objective proof of the underlying intent of the police. . . ."

From our review of the record, however, we have concluded that this aspect of the Innis test was satisfied also. The exchanges in question between Stahl and the officers, together with the circumstances under which they were made, do not reasonably appear to have made it subjectively likely that he would have responded as he did. Accordingly, the test set forth by Innis was satisfied.

WRIT QUASHED AS IMPROVIDENTLY GRANTED.

TORBERT, C.J., and MADDOX, JONES and SHORES, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Ex Parte Stahl

Supreme Court of Alabama
Jan 21, 1983
426 So. 2d 917 (Ala. 1983)
Case details for

Ex Parte Stahl

Case Details

Full title:Ex parte Lawrence Rufus STAHL (Re Lawrence Rufus Stahl v. State of Alabama)

Court:Supreme Court of Alabama

Date published: Jan 21, 1983

Citations

426 So. 2d 917 (Ala. 1983)

Citing Cases

West v. State

' " McWilliams, supra at 1246 (quoting Rhode Island v. Innis, 446 U.S. 291, 300-01, 100 S.Ct. 1682, 1689-90,…

Watkins v. State

" (Footnotes omitted; emphasis in original.) See also Stahl v. State, 426 So.2d 909, 913 (Ala.Cr.App. 1982),…