Stansbury v. California (1993)
- Docket
- 93-5770
- Decided
- 1993-01-01
Summary
Question: May a trial court determine that a criminal defendant is not "in custody" for Miranda purposes on the basis of police officers' subjective and undisclosed conclusions that they did not consider the defendant a "suspect"? Conclusion: No. In a per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court reversed the lower court and remanded. The Court held that an officer’s subjective view is irrelevant to the determination of whether a person being interrogated is “in custody.” On remand, the Supreme Court of California should consider whether the objective circumstances showed that Stansbury was in custody during his entire interrogation. Justice Harry A. Blackmun concurred, writing that the death penalty cannot be imposed fairly within the constraints of the Constitution.