Supreme Court Upholds Right to Sue Officers in Santa Monica Miranda Case

By Lookout Staff

Letting stand a lower court ruling against Santa Monica police, the Supreme Court on Monday upheld a decision allowing suits against officers who continue to question suspects after they invoke their "right to remain silent."

In a 7 to 2 decision, the court upheld the constitutionality of the so-called Miranda warnings in separate cases in Santa Monica and Los Angeles, where convicted killers sued police from their prison cells.

In both cases, police officers continued to question the suspects after being informed they no longer wanted to talk without a lawyer present. Both then made incriminating remarks.

Citing violations of their Fifth Amendment Rights - which states that "no person... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself" --, the two sought monetary damages.

A federal trial judge ruled that the officers were not entitled to qualified for immunity and should not be shielded from the convicted killers' lawsuits.

After the ruling was upheld last November by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the officers appealed their case to the Supreme Court.

Santa Monica City Attorney Marsha Moutrie said the Supreme Court decision appeared to clarify the Miranda ruling for everyone, including officers and suspects. She added that the police department already had revised its training policies to reflect decisions strengthening Miranda.

Continuing to question suspects after their rights have been invoked is common practice in some California police departments. The title of a training video shown to departments across the state is "Questioning Outside Miranda." In the video a prosecutor tells police that they can continue to question a suspect even after they have asked for an attorney.

Although the tape informs police that any statements made after the suspect's request cannot be admitted as primary evidence against the defendant, they can, however, be used to recover property, locate other witnesses or find other evidence.

Lawyers for Santa Monica and Los Angeles police officers said that violating the Miranda warnings was not unconstitutional. The officers, they argued, reasonably believed that they could rely on the training video.