Brewer v. Williams

Facts

On December 24, 1968, a 10-year-old girl, Pamela Powers, disappeared from a YMCA in Des Moines, Iowa. Williams, an escaped mental patient who lived at the YMCA, was seen carrying a large bundle wrapped in a blanket to his car, and he drove off. A warrant issued for his arrest. On December 26, after phoning his Des Moines lawyer, McKnight, Williams surrendered to police in Davenport, 160 miles away. He was booked, given Miranda warnings, arraigned on the warrant, and jailed. He also consulted a Davenport lawyer, Kelly. McKnight and the Des Moines police agreed that two officers would drive Williams back and would not question him on the trip. Both lawyers told Williams not to talk until he saw McKnight, and Kelly was refused a seat in the police car. On the drive Williams said several times that he would tell the whole story once he reached Des Moines and saw McKnight. Detective Leaming, who knew Williams was deeply religious and a former mental patient, gave the "Christian burial speech," saying the girl's parents deserved a Christian burial and that snow might hide her body. He told Williams not to answer. Later Williams directed the officers to a service station where he said he left the girl's shoes, then to a rest area where he said he left the blanket, and finally to her body.

Issues

1. After judicial proceedings had begun, did Detective Leaming violate Williams' Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment right to counsel by deliberately eliciting incriminating information from him in his lawyers' absence?
2. Did Williams waive his right to the assistance of counsel during the car ride from Davenport to Des Moines, so that his statements could be used at trial?

Holding

Williams was entitled to counsel because judicial proceedings had begun. Leaming deliberately elicited information from him without counsel, and the State did not prove a waiver. His statements, and testimony that he led police to the body, could not constitutionally be admitted.