It was early evening by the time Manchester police detectives Ryan Grant and Sean Leighton sat down with Michael Addison.
Addison had just given himself up to Boston Police at his grandmother's Dorchester home.
Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs had been shot and was in grave condition in a Manchester hospital.
Addison was the prime suspect in the shooting.
In the interview room at the Boston police station, Detective Grant instructed Addison to read out loud each of the five Miranda statements.
It’s that interview that’s before a judge now.
If Superior Court Judge Kathleen McGuire decides police violated Addison’s rights, a crucial interview in the case could be tossed out.
Defense Attorney Shawn Sweeney says the intention of Miranda is to protect suspects against police coercion.
He’s representing a defendant in a case in Nashua in which a judge has recently ruled police had not properly applied Miranda warnings.
SWEENEY: ...Police have a certain level of intimidation in any event and when you're actually in custody at the police station or wherever you are... there's what the Supreme Court's called inherent coercion, or a natural intimidation that could compel people to speak to the police even though it's not in their best interest, and to do that without understanding what your rights are.
Propping up a chart in the courtroom this week, defense lawyer Caroline Smith read a portion of the transcript of the detective's interview with Addison.
When Addison came to the third Miranda right, he read these words out loud: I have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before any questioning and to have one with me during questioning.
And then Addison said, "I would like that, though."
Detective Grant asked him, "You would like what?
Addison answered, "A lawyer, that's just what I was told."
"Okay," said Grant.
Addison then said. "I mean, to always have a lawyer."
It's at this point, Addison's lawyers argue, that detectives should have stopped their questioning.
But the state argues that Addison did not unequivocally invoke his right to a lawyer.
They say words such as "that's just what I was told" had cast doubt as to his actual desires.
The detectives made several attempts to clarify, the state argues, eventually obtaining a valid waiver from Addison.
The defense says that waiver is not valid.
To waive Miranda rights is a serious matter, as attorney John Kacavas explains.
Kacavas used to work as a prosecutor before turning to criminal defense law.
KACAVAS: The waiver of Miranda rights have to be voluntary, has to be knowing and intelligent and what those words mean is that the suspect has to understand what his rights are and he has to understand the importance of waiving, giving up those rights, so when you're asking a suspect, Do you understand what that means? Explain it to me in your own words -- that goes to the knowing and intelligent part of the waiver.
Under cross-examination, Detective Grant admitted to some confusion when Addison said, "I would like that, though."
He says that is why he sought to clarify what the word "that" referred to.
Both detectives also said their impression was that Addison was eager to speak with them, contradicting any desire to see a lawyer.
According to Leighton, Addison's body language indicated he was completely engaged.
Addison’s Attorney Caroline Smith suggested Grant could have gone further than simply confirming that Addison had been referring to a lawyer:
SMITH: You did not say at that point, "Michael, Are you saying that you want one for advice before questioning?"
GRANT: I did not say that.
SMITH: You did not say, "Michael, Did you want to have one here during questioning?"
GRANT: I did not.
SMITH: You did not say, "Michael, Are you asserting your right to a lawyer?"
GRANT: I did not.
Grant said that the Boston police who arrested Addison had described him as eager to talk.
But Attorney Smith said none of the Boston police who showed up to testify this week had indicated that.
Smith also got Detectives Grant and Leighton to admit that a suspect could want both at the same time -- to speak with police and to have a lawyer present.
Defense lawyers are also trying to suppress comments made by Addison to Boston police before detectives Grant and Leighton met with him.
Nashua attorney Shawn Sweeney.
SWEENEY: Certainly in cases as serious as this one, with stakes as high as they are, you're going to want to look into every possible defense or suppression issue.
And, Sweeney says, it could be more than the actual interview that is suppressed.
And that’s another reason, he says, why police, too, have an incentive to follow Miranda rights.
SWEENEY: If the judge decides that Addison invoked his right to counsel fairly early on... maybe even other types of derivative evidence or any evidence related to the statements that Addison made, that could all be inadmissable in trial.
Even if the judge tosses out the material in question, the state still has plenty of evidence left.
Superior court Judge Kathleen McGuire has taken the matter under advisement.
The trial is set for September 22. Addison faces the death penalty if convicted.
For NHPR News, I’m Ellen Grimm in Manchester.
