Why were the following comments not allowed in court due to the 6th amendment?

Question

Here is an excerpt from a statement given by a suspect in a double murder. The case went to trial and he was aquitted but a couple of statements were not allowed due to the 6th amendment.

He had been read his Miranda rights and after questioning for several hours the questions got pointed...

Question: Do you deny killing Ron and Mandy?

Answer: I don't want to answer that right now.

Question: Where is the gun used to kill Ron and Mandy?

Answer: I don't want to tell you right now. I would like to cooperate with you and tell you what happened down there and take you to get the gun, but I'd like to sleep on it and think about it over night. Can I call a lawyer and talk with him about it? And also I'd like to call my wife.


"I don't want to answer that right now" and "I don't want to tell you right now" were not admissible in court due to the 6th amendment. The rest was allowed. I don't understand why those 2 statements violated the 6th.

Answer 1

If it's a sixth amendment exclusion, then it would have to be under either the right-to-counsel (privilege) clause, or the confrontation clause. Neither of those seem to apply.

Those sound like they should have been excluded on 5th Amendment grounds, both the protection against forced self-incrimination and the due process right to counsel.

By saying "I don't want to answer that", the defendant was invoking his right to remain silent. As part of the 5th Amendment protections, it is improper to comment on the fact that someone invoked their 5th Amendment rights.

So, those statements should have been excluded as improper reference and irrelevant commentary on the exercise of the protection against self-incriminating testimony. But that prohibition arises from the 5th Amendment.

I can't see any 6th amendment grounds that would apply.

Answer 2

From the brief scenerio presented, it would appear the 6th applied because the accused asked to talk to a lawyer. Once this request is made, all questioning must stop and any further testimony provided is inadmissible.

If these statements were made in the order provided, the first response of "I don't want to answer that right now" was probably not addmitted since it has no relevance.

If it was asked after the request to talk to a lawyer, the 6th would apply to that statement as well as the second one.

Answer 3

6th Amendment doesn't have anything to do with these statements.

The 5th Amendment does. You cannot incriminate yourself. You are entitled to have representation during questioning. (once he asked for a lawyer - nothing counts)