State v. Wint

Amicus brief in support of the proposition that once a pretrial detainee asks for a lawyer, police cannot re-interrogate him or her without counsel present, unless he or she re-initiates the interrogation.

Law enforcement cannot re-interrogate an accused after he or she invoked her right to have counsel present under Miranda, unless he or she has reinitiated the contact or if he or she was released from pre-trial custody for 14 days or longer. Here, Mr. Wint did not re-initiate the interrogation and he was never released from pre-trial custody for any amount of time, let alone 14 days, before re-interrogation. ACLU-NJ, as friend-of-the-court, weighed in to ensure that New Jerseyans' fundamental right to have counsel present during a custodial interrogation, and against self-incrimination, are not undermined by law enforcement's attempts to re-interrogate an accused who remains in pretrial detention for months after he or she has invoked her right to counsel.