5th Amendment Right to an Attorney

The 5th Amendment right to an attorney is different from the 6th Amendment right to an attorney.

It is easy for officers to confuse the two rights.

First, the 6th Amendment right occurs when formal proceedings begin against a defendant. Formal proceedings normally commence when an attorney is appointed at an initial appearance or (less often) when a grand jury indictment is handed down (if this occurs before the initial appearance).

The 6th Amendment right to an attorney is "crime specific" -- so officers may talk to a suspect about other crimes than the one which the suspect is represented.

According to People v Outlaw and People v Lira, the 5th Amendment right, on the other hand, is not "crime specific" -- so once a suspect has asked to speak to an attorney, officers may not question him / her about other crimes.

The exceptions to this are:
1. There is "break in custody" United States v Drake, People v Outlaw.
2. (Presumably) When the case is over and the suspect has been sentienced (-- but I am not aware of any cases that say this. It just makes sense to me.)

Best -

DA