Rollins

The present appeal requires us to determine once again 1 which cases are to be governed in this state by the principles set forth in Escobedo v. Illinois (1964) 378 U.S. 478 [ 12 L.Ed.2d 977 , 84 S.Ct. 1758 ], and to decide for the first time 2 which cases, among those governed by Escobedo, should also be subject to the more detailed guidelines enunciated in Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436 [ 16 L.Ed.2d 694 , 86 S.Ct. 1602 , 10 A.L.R.3d 974 ],

The trial in this case began on May 13, 1963. Defendant, George Pulton Rollins, and his codefendants, Willie Slater and John Palmer, were charged with two counts of armed robbery. All three defendants waived the right to a jury trial, and the trial court found each defendant guilty on both counts. The court further found that Slater and Palmer committed the robberies while armed with a deadly weapon but that Rollins was not personally armed. On June 7, 1963, the court entered the judgment which defendant Rollins challenges in this appeal, convicting him on two counts of first degree robbery. (Pen. Code, §§ 211, 211a.) On June 20, 1963, the court imposed concurrent sentences and committed Rollins to the California Youth Authority for…

I concur in the reversal of the judgment, and in the determination that under state law and policy the holdings in Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U.S. 478 [ 12 L.Ed.2d 977 , 84 S.Ct. 1758 ], and People v. Dorado, 62 Cal.2d 338 [ 42 Cal.Rptr. 169 , 398 P.2d 361 ], are partially retroactive and apply to eases that were not final on June 22, 1964, the date on which Escobedo was decided. I dissent, however, from the holding that the rules announced in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 [ 16 L.Ed.2d 694 , 86 S.Ct. 1602 , 10 A.L.R.Sd 974], under state law and policy, do not apply to pending appeals but only apply prospectively to cases tried after June 13, 1966, the date on which Miranda was decided. These two holdings are illogical, inconsistent, needlessly raise, without deciding, equal protection of the laws problems, and grant to some applicants while denying to others similarly situated basic constitutional rights.

In reaching the result that Miranda should only apply prospectively the majority follow Johnson v. New Jersey, 384 U.S. 719 [ 16 L.Ed.2d 882 , 86 S.Ct. 1772 ], decided on June 20, 1966, in which the United States Supreme Court held that insofar as federal courts are concerned,…