No. 20-6188

Joshua Chiazor Ezeka v. Minnesota

Lower Court: Minnesota
Docketed: 2020-11-03
Status: Denied
Type: IFP
Response WaivedIFP
Tags: 5th-amendment 6th-amendment constitutional-rights custodial-interrogation fifth-amendment miranda-v-arizona miranda-warning plain-error right-to-counsel sixth-amendment
Key Terms:
FifthAmendment DueProcess CriminalProcedure
Latest Conference: 2020-12-04
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether Petitioner's custodial statements should be suppressed due to lack of Miranda warning

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED L The Fifth Amendment, in coordination with Miranda v. Arizona, requires police officers to notify suspects of their right to remain silent and their right to counsel at the outset of a custodial interrogation. Minnesota police officers subjected Petitioner to two separate custodial interrogations and failed, in both instances, to provide Petitioner with a Miranda warning at the outset of the interrogations. Should Petitioner’s custodial statements be suppressed? I. The Sixth Amendment protects a criminal defendant’s right to have counsel present at all important stages of proceedings, and this right attaches upon the initiation of adversarial judicial proceedings against the defendant. Minnesota formally charged Petitioner with second-degree intentional murder and subsequently subjected Petitioner to custodial interrogation without counsel present and without obtaining a waiver of Petitioner’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel. Should Petitioner’s custodial statements be suppressed? III. Minnesota uses United States v. Olano’s “clear or obvious” test to determine whether a trial court’s issuance of an erroneous jury instruction constitutes “plain error’ under state law. Minnesota acknowledged that, in Petitioner’s case, the trial court issued an erroneous instruction, but determined the error was not “plain” because it was not “clear and obvious.” Is Minnesota’s use of a “clear and obvious” test repugnant to the Constitution or laws of the United States?

Docket Entries

2020-12-07
Petition DENIED.
2020-11-18
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/4/2020.
2020-11-16
Waiver of right of respondent State of Minnesota to respond filed.
2020-10-13
Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due December 3, 2020)

Attorneys

Joshua Ezeka
Gloria Leticia Contreras EdinContreras & Metelska, P.A., Petitioner
State of Minnesota
Jonathan P. SchmidtHennepin County Attorney's Office, Respondent