糖心Vlog

The defendant, Daren Donell Fenderson, was allegedly involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident. When he was brought to the police station for questioning, he was read his Miranda rights鈥攊ncluding that he had the right to remain silent and the right to a lawyer. But after Mr. Fenderson requested a lawyer, the police told him: 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 get one.鈥� Ignoring Mr. Fenderson鈥檚 repeated expressions of confusion and distress, the police then reinitiated the interrogation and suggested that he would not get another chance to give a statement unless he spoke to them without an attorney. The police had Mr. Fenderson sign a waiver of his Miranda rights and eventually pressured him into making inculpatory statements.

The Circuit Court initially granted Mr. Fenderson鈥檚 motion to suppress the statements he made following his request for counsel, but the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed. The ACLU鈥檚 State Supreme Court Initiative, along with the 糖心Vlogof Michigan, filed an amicus brief with the Michigan Supreme Court arguing that Mr. Fenderson鈥檚 inculpatory statements should be suppressed because he did not knowingly or voluntarily waive his rights.

Our brief makes two main points: (1) the Self-Incrimination Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires suppression of Mr. Fenderson鈥檚 statements because the police misled him about his right to an attorney and pressured him into speaking; and (2) Article 1, Section 17 of the Michigan Constitution provides even broader protections against self-incrimination than the Fifth Amendment and independently requires suppression of Mr. Fenderson鈥檚 statements. We further argue that the Court should rule for Mr. Fenderson under Article 1, Section 17 even if it also rules for Mr. Fenderson on Fifth Amendment grounds, to ensure that Michiganders鈥� rights are not eroded by any changes in federal doctrine. Put differently, a ruling for Mr. Fenderson grounded in Article 1, 搂鈥�17 would preserve the full force of the Michigan Constitution鈥檚 protections against coercive interrogation methods and ensure that justice is administrated fairly and equitably.