91 N.Y.2d 989 (1998)
When a suspect is represented by counsel on one charge, questioning on a separate charge is impermissible if it is purposely exploitative and designed to elicit incriminating responses on the represented charge to pressure the suspect to confess to the unrepresented crime.
Summary
Jonathan Grant was arrested and interrogated about a homicide and assault in Schenectady, NY, while already represented by counsel on a gun possession charge in Brooklyn. He made incriminating statements that he later sought to suppress. The New York Court of Appeals held that while the two charges were not so interwoven as to automatically taint the interrogation, the trial court needed to determine if the questioning about the Brooklyn charge was purposely exploitative, designed to pressure Grant into confessing to the Schenectady crimes. The case was remitted for that determination.
Facts
Grant was arrested for a homicide and assault in Schenectady related to a May 9, 1993 incident. Prior to this, he had been arrested in Brooklyn for possessing a 9mm Glock pistol and was represented by counsel on that charge. Schenectady police knew of the Brooklyn charge and his representation. During interrogation for the Schenectady crimes, police questioned him about the Brooklyn gun charge, eventually eliciting admissions about possessing the Glock. He then gave two statements implicating himself in the Schenectady shooting.
Procedural History
Grant’s motion to suppress the statements was denied by the trial court, and he was convicted. The Appellate Division affirmed. A dissenting Justice granted leave to appeal to the Court of Appeals based on the “relatedness” of the charges. While the appeal was pending, the Court of Appeals decided People v. Cohen. Grant then argued that the questioning about the Brooklyn charge was purposely exploitive. The Court of Appeals reversed the Appellate Division decision and remitted the case to the trial court to determine if the questioning was, in fact, purposely exploitive.
Issue(s)
Whether the questioning by Schenectady police about the Brooklyn gun possession charge, while Grant was represented by counsel on that charge, was discrete or fairly separable from the Schenectady crimes and was “purposely exploitive” and “designed to add pressure on defendant to confess” to the unrepresented crime.
Holding
No, the Court of Appeals did not make a determination if the questioning was purposely exploitive, because that issue had not been properly preserved at trial. The case was remitted to the trial court to determine whether the questioning by Schenectady police was purposely exploitive and designed to add pressure on defendant to confess to the unrepresented crime, based on the record.
Court’s Reasoning
The Court acknowledged its holding in People v. Cohen, which addressed the issue of questioning a represented suspect on a new matter. The Court stated that suppression is required where the represented and unrepresented crimes are so thoroughly interrelated that questioning on one will almost necessarily elicit incriminating responses on the other. It further stated that a statement may be subject to suppression where impermissible questioning on a represented charge was, when viewed as an integrated whole, not fairly separable from otherwise permissible questioning on the unrepresented matter and was, in fact, purposely exploited to aid in securing inculpatory admissions on the latter.
The court found that the Appellate Division erred in ruling the issue waived because it was not raised at trial. Instead, the Court remitted the case back to the trial court to determine if the questioning was purposely exploitative and designed to add pressure on Grant to confess to the unrepresented crime, applying the law as articulated in People v. Cohen. Judge Titone dissented in part, arguing that the record clearly showed the questioning was exploitative and a new trial should be ordered.
Judge Titone noted, “the only inferable purpose for engaging in the impermissible line of questioning was to use it as leverage to obtain admissions regarding the Schenectady murder.” Further, “By asking defendant about his possession of the murder weapon, Sims pressured him into either giving incriminating responses regarding his own use of that weapon in the Schenectady shooting or giving false exculpatory answers regarding his possession that could later be exploited in further interrogation.”