United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

RILEY v. ILLINOIS. , 435 U.S. 1000 (1978)

April 24, 1978

Rehearing Denied June 5, 1978. See 436 U.S. 951.

On petition for writ of certiorari to the Appellate Court of Illinois, First District.

The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied.

Mr. Justice MARSHALL, with whom Mr. Justice BRENNAN joins, dissenting.

I dissent from the denial of certiorari. Petitioner was 16 years old at the time of his arrest in connection with three homicides. [Footnote 1] After being held for an hour and a half in a police car at the cemetery where the bodies were found, petitioner was taken to the police station, where his shoes, trousers, and shirt were removed 2 and he was given a blanket and placed in a cell. An hour or two later, after being advised

Page 435 U.S. 1000 , 1001

of his constitutional rights to remain silent and consult with an attorney, petitioner asked to speak to his father, who had come to the police station when he learned of his son's arrest; 3 this request was ignored by the police. Petitioner then confessed to the crimes, and later that evening repeated the confession to a prosecuting attorney, without having consulted with the parent whom he had asked to see or with any other friendly adult. The confession was introduced over objection at petitioner's trial, which led to his conviction for murder and to sentences of 75 to 225 years. [Footnote 4]

The Illinois courts considered and rejected petitioner's argument, made initially in support of his motion to suppress the confession, that " the request of a juvenile defendant to see a parent is tantamount to an adult's request for an attorney" and should terminate police interrogation . 49 Ill.App.3d 304, 308, 7 Ill.Dec. 145, 148, 364 N.E.2d 306, 309 (1977). 5 It is this argument that petitioner presses here.

I have recently expressed my view that this Court should decide whether a juvenile's waiver of rights is valid in the absence of " competent advice from an adult who does not have significant conflicts of interest." Little v. Arkansas, 435 U.S. 957, at 1591, 55 L. Ed.2d 809 (1978) (opinion dissenting from denial of certiorari). The instant case presents a related but less difficult issue, for we need not consider here whether the Constitution requires that [435 U.S. 1000 , 1002]

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