State v. Milligan

533 N.E.2d 724, 40 Ohio St. 3d 341, 1988 Ohio LEXIS 474
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 30, 1988
DocketNo. 87-646
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 533 N.E.2d 724 (State v. Milligan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Milligan, 533 N.E.2d 724, 40 Ohio St. 3d 341, 1988 Ohio LEXIS 474 (Ohio 1988).

Opinion

Sweeney, J.

I

Appellant contends that the interception and clandestine recording of his telephone conversation with his attorney violated his right to counsel in contravention of Section 10, Article I of the Ohio Constitution and the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This court has previously observed that the right to counsel afforded by Section 10, Article I of the Ohio Constitution is comparable to but independent of similar guarantees provided by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. See Ford v. State (1929), 121 Ohio St. 292, 295, 168 N.E. 139, 140. Implicit within the meaning of Section 10, Article I, and the analogous protections of Section 16, Article I, is the right of a criminal defendant to consult privately with his attorney. See Ford v. State, supra, at 295, 297, 168 N.E. at 140-141; Thomas v. Mills (1927), 117 Ohio St. 114, 126, 157 N.E. 488, 493, and paragraph one of the syllabus (relying upon Section 16, Article I).

The state urges, however, that the right to consult counsel was not violated in the case sub judice because appellant was aware of the presence of Bartlett and thus had no reasonable expectation of privacy within the county jail. Consequently, the state maintains that any evidence obtained in such surroundings is not subject to suppression. In support of this view, appellee cites Katz v. United States (1967), 389 U.S. 347. Katz, however, is inapposite since its focus was upon evidence which was allegedly the product of an illegal search and seizure. In that context, the court remarked:

“* * * What a person knowingly exposes to the public, even in his own home or office, is not a subject of Fourth Amendment protection. ” (Emphasis added.) Id. at 351.

Katz therefore was not intended, nor should it be interpreted, to suggest that the Sixth Amendment right of a criminal defendant to privately consult his attorney ends at the prison gates. To the contrary, the Supreme Court had previously held that: “* * * [I]t may be assumed that even in a jail, or perhaps especially there, the relation[343]*343ships which the law has endowed with particularized confidentiality must continue to receive unceasing protection * * (Emphasis added.) Lanza v. New York (1962), 370 U.S. 139, 143-144. Principal among such relationships is the one maintained between an attorney and his client.

Lanza illustrates the crucial distinction between the protections of the Fourth and Sixth Amendments. Relative to the Fourth Amendment, a reasonable expectation of privacy is a prerequisite to a claim that an illegal search and seizure were conducted. See Lewis v. United States (1966), 385 U.S. 206. The Sixth Amendment right to counsel is much broader in that it fosters private communication between attorney and client, to ensure adequate representation during criminal proceedings. See United States v. Levy (C.A. 3, 1978), 577 F. 2d 200, 208-209. Thus, the issue is not whether appellant had a reasonable expectation of privacy at the jail, but whether he was afforded the opportunity to converse with his attorney in private so as to freely discuss his case and his legal defense prior to trial. If such privacy cannot be ensured, owing to the location of telephones in an unsecured area, a defendant should be informed of his right to privately communicate with counsel. The failure of the authorities to ensure privacy for such communications cannot in turn be used to establish that the accused did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy. See In re Qualls (1943), 58 Cal. App. 2d 330, 136 P. 2d 341; In re Snyder (1923), 62 Cal. App. 697, 217 P. 777. Consequently, a reasonable expectation of privacy has no bearing on the right to effective assistance of counsel.

The state nevertheless contends that our holding in State v. Sargent (1975), 41 Ohio St. 2d 85, 70 O.O. 2d 169, 322 N.E. 2d 634, permits the use at trial of evidence obtained through an official intrusion upon the attorney-client relationship. We do not agree. In Sargent, we emphasized that “the trial judge was careful to limit the testimony to what the patrolman observed of appellee’s conduct during the call; no testimony as to the content of that conversation was allowed. ” (Emphasis added). Id. at 89, 70 O.O. 2d at 171, 322 N.E. 2d at 638.

Thus, Sargent is clearly distinguishable from the case at bar. The evidence at issue in Sargent concerned the demeanor of the defendant at the time of his conversation with his attorney. Such demeanor evidence would have been obtainable irrespective of the nature of the conversation or the identity of the person with whom the defendant was speaking. In short, it bore no relationship to the content of the attorney-client conversation.

Accordingly, we hold that evidence obtained through the unauthorized interception of a private conversation between a criminal defendant and his attorney is subject to suppression pursuant to Section 10, Article I of the Ohio Constitution.

II

Having concluded that a constitutional violation has occurred, we must now consider what remedy is appropriate. The state maintains that mere suppression of the illegally obtained information is sufficient. Appellant responds that dismissal of the indictment is the only effective deterrent where the confidentiality of the attorney-client relationship has been breached. Accordingly, appellant argues that any interception of a confidential communication between attorney and client requires dismissal of the indictment. It is our view that neither mere suppression nor auto[344]*344matic dismissal is appropriate in every case irrespective of the circumstances.

Appellant argues persuasively that the acquisition by an investigating officer of information communicated between an attorney and his client relative to trial strategy is a constitutional violation for which suppression is an inadequate remedy. Since the information obtained would in most cases not be admissible evidence, it is contended the motivation for obtaining such information would be to obtain a tactical advantage at trial or to secure other information which would lead to apparently untainted evidence. In this regard the California Supreme Court observed:

“The exclusionary remedy is also inadequate since there would be no incentive for state agents to refrain from such violations. Even when the illegality is discovered, the state would merely prove its case by the use of other, untainted evidence. The prosecution would proceed as if the unlawful conduct had not occurred.” Barber v. Municipal Court (1979), 24 Cal. 3d 742, 759, 157 Cal. Rptr. 658, 668, 598 P. 2d 818, 828. See, also, State v. Holland (1985), 147 Ariz. 453, 456, 711 P. 2d 592, 595; Commonwealth v. Manning (1977), 373 Mass. 438, 442-445, 367 N.E. 2d 635, 638-639; State v. Cory (1963), 62 Wash. 2d 371, 377-378, 382 P. 2d 1019, 1022-1023.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Coomes
2025 Ohio 2470 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2025)
State v. Ross
2024 Ohio 6076 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2024)
State v. Howse
2024 Ohio 503 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2024)
State v. Morris
2023 Ohio 4105 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2023)
State v. Sitzes
2023 Ohio 3915 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2023)
State v. Newberry
2023 Ohio 3623 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2023)
State v. Hicks
2023 Ohio 3517 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2023)
State v. Svoboda
2021 Ohio 4197 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2021)
State v. Williams (Slip Opinion)
2021 Ohio 3152 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2021)
State v. Svec
2020 Ohio 6793 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2020)
State v. Lucas
2020 Ohio 1602 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2020)
State v. Stewart
2018 Ohio 684 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2018)
State v. Osie (Slip Opinion)
2014 Ohio 2966 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2014)
State v. Hudson
2013 Ohio 1992 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2013)
State v. Davis
2011 Ohio 6776 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2011)
State v. Hall, Unpublished Decision (6-18-2004)
2004 Ohio 3186 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2004)
State v. George, Unpublished Decision (6-4-2004)
2004 Ohio 2868 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2004)
In the Matter of Cherry, Unpublished Decision (4-22-2004)
2004 Ohio 2142 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2004)
State v. Kimmel, Unpublished Decision (3-15-2004)
2004 Ohio 1207 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2004)
State v. Pecard
998 P.2d 453 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1999)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
533 N.E.2d 724, 40 Ohio St. 3d 341, 1988 Ohio LEXIS 474, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-milligan-ohio-1988.