Robertson v. Pichon, No. 15-16463 (9th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CasePetitioner, found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol and possession of a billy club, appealed the district court's denial of his petition for habeas corpus. Petitioner claimed that the state trial court's failure to suppress his statements regarding the billy club after petitioner stated "I want my attorney" violated his Fifth Amendment rights under the principles set forth in Edwards v. Arizona. Petitioner contended that he was under arrest at the time the agent asked him to take a chemical test and was thus in custody at the time he unambiguously invoked his right to counsel. The court concluded that the Supreme Court has not addressed the question whether a defendant's request for counsel in response to a request to submit to a chemical test constitutes an invocation of his Miranda rights for purposes of any future custodial interrogations. Therefore, the court could not say that the state court's ruling was objectively unreasonable. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment.
Court Description: Habeas Corpus. The panel affirmed the district court’s denial of Wade Robertson’s habeas corpus petition challenging his California state conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol and possession of a billy club. Robertson contends that he was under arrest at the time a police officer asked him to take a chemical test, that he was therefore in custody at the time he unambiguously invoked his right to counsel, and that the state court’s failure to suppress his statements regarding the billy club during subsequent questioning violated his Fifth Amendment rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), and Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477 (1981). The panel held that because the Supreme Court has not addressed whether a defendant’s request for counsel in response to a request to submit to a chemical test constitutes an invocation of his Miranda rights for purposes of any future custodial interrogations, the state court’s ruling that the admission of Robertson’s statements did not violate Miranda and Edwards is not objectively unreasonable. Chief Judge Thomas concurred. He agreed that the district court should be affirmed given the AEDPA standard of review, but wrote that if the appeal were on direct review, one might reach a different conclusion. ROBERTSON V. PICHON 3
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