Mogard v. City of Laramie9/24/2001
ate of Alabama, 287 U.S. 45, 53 S.Ct. 55, 65, 77 L.Ed. 158, 84 A.L.R. 527; Avery v. State of Alabama, 308 U.S. 444, 60 S.Ct. 321, 322, 84 L.Ed. 377; United States ex rel. Washington v. Maroney, 3 Cir., 428 F.2d 10, 13. The right of assistance by counsel necessarily includes a reasonable and adequate time for counsel to prepare * * *.
* * * his court feels compelled to do as the United States Supreme Court has done in its approach to these cases to make our disposal based upon the factual situation which appears in each case without reliance upon per se rules or assumed presumptions. Adger v. State, 584 P.2d 1056, 1058-59 (Wyo. 1978).
The person accused of the commission of a crime has the constitutional right to be represented by an attorney of his own choice. Chandler v. Fretag, 348 U.S. 3, 75 S.Ct. 1, 99 L.Ed. 4 (1954); Adger v. State, Wyo. 584 P.2d 1056 [(1978)]. This is the construction given to the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, and the same construction must be given Art. 1, § 10 of the Constitution of the State of Wyoming. Irvin v. State, 584 P.2d 1068, 1070 (Wyo. 1978).
Section 10, Art. 1 of the Wyoming Constitution likewise provides for the right to counsel in criminal prosecutions and tracks the federal provision. Auclair v. State, 660 P.2d 1156, 1159 n.6 (Wyo.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 909 (1983).
"The basic contours of the right are identical in both state and federal contexts." Id. at 1160.
The Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches only when adversarial criminal proceedings against an accused have been commenced. Brown v. State, 661 P.2d 1024, 1029 (Wyo. 1983).
"Prior to the Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaching, no violation of that Sixth Amendment right to counsel can occur." Id. at 1030.
We decline to extend the right to representation by counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Art. 1, § 10 of the Wyoming Constitution to the preindictment lineup stage of the criminal proceedings, and consequently we affirm. Charpentier v. State, 736 P.2d 724, 724 (Wyo. 1987).
he Wyoming Supreme Court has been confronted with a number of cases involving the question of when the right to counsel attaches. * * * In each case, we applied the rule and rationale set forth by the United States Supreme Court in Kirby [v. Illinois, 406 U.S. 682, 92 S.Ct. 1877, 32 L.Ed.2d 411 (1972)]. Most recently in State v. Heiner, 683 P.2d at 637 [(Wyo. 1984)], we said:
"It is clear that in this jurisdiction a Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches only when adversarial criminal proceedings have been commenced against an accused. It follows that * * * evidence obtained * * * prior to the filing of the criminal complaint not obtained in violation of [the defendant's] Sixth Amendment right to counsel." (Emphasis added and citation omitted.) Charpentier, 736 P.2d at 725.
In pursuing his claim that the inculpatory statements should have been suppressed, Best invokes both the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Art. 1, §§ 10 and 11 of the Wyoming Constitution. The critical interrogation occurred prior to the filing of criminal charges against Best, and for that reason, his rights under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the parallel provision, Art. 1, § 10 of the Wyoming Constitution, which also affords the right to counsel, are not implicated. A request for counsel made prior to the commencement of adversarial criminal proceedings does not invoke the right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Brown v. State, Wyo., 661 P.2d 1024 (19
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