Billy Russell Clark v. Tim Murphy

In this petition for writ of habeas corpus, we must decide whether a state court’s determination — that the admission into evidence of a murder suspect’s confession did not violate the Constitution — was contrary to or an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court.

I

On May 15, 1991, Cynthia Tomecko reported to Phoenix police that her mother, Anita Clark, was missing. Police focused attention on Billy Russell Clark, Anita Clark’s stepson, when they learned that he had sold her automobile to a California automobile dealership. Clark was arrested on May 24, at about 11:00 a.m., attempting to pick up a check mailed from the California dealership at a post office box in Chandler, Arizona. After the arresting officer read Clark his Miranda 1 rights, Clark stated that he understood those rights, and he was taken to the Phoenix police station, where he spent the balance of the day.

The first person to interview Clark was Detective Masino. There is some ambiguity in the record with respect to the size of the interview room, which was either six *1041 feet by eight, or eight feet by ten. It was furnished with a table and two or three…

concurring:

I agree with my colleagues that no violation of Mr. Clark’s rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments occurred. It necessarily follows that I believe the state court’s resolution of Clark’s claims was neither contrary to, nor an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law. I reach my conclusions by a somewhat different route, however.

This case is difficult because Clark’s statement — “I think I would like to talk to a lawyer” — reflects at least a tentative decision in favor of having a lawyer. It does not, however, indicate unequivocally that a final decision has been made.

Such a statement presents a more appealing case than did the statement in Davis 1 — “Maybe I should talk to a lawyer” — for a rule that the interrogating officer must provide an opportunity for reflection and seek clarification before continuing the substantive interrogation. While the Davis Court’s interest in drawing a bright-line suggests to me that a majority of the Supreme Court would find no such duty here, a prediction on that score is unnecessary because Clark’s interrogator chose to do just that: he provided an opportunity for reflection and sought…

317 F.3d 1038 Billy Russell CLARK, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Tim MURPHY, Respondent-Appellee. No. 00-16727. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted November 5, 2002. Filed January 23, 2003. COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED James M. Jellison argued the cause for the appellant. Anders Rosenquist, Jr., Rosenquist & Associates, Phoenix, Arizona, was on the briefs. Ginger Jarvis, Assistant Arizona Attorney General, argued the cause for the appellee. Janet Napolitano, Arizona Attorney General; Randall M. Howe, Arizona Chief Counsel, Criminal Appeals Section; Diane M. Ramsey, Assistant Arizona Attorney General, were on the brief. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona; Roslyn O. Silver, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-97-00560-ROS. Before: STAPLETON, * O'SCANNLAIN and FERNANDEZ, Circuit Judges. O'SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge. 1 In this petition for writ of habeas corpus, we must decide whether a state court's determination — that the admission into evidence of a murder suspect's confession did not violate the Constitution — was contrary to or an unreasonable application of clearly established federal law, as…