Informants

Question 1

Under the 5th Amendment Right to Counsel

Answer 1

Miranda warnings need not be given where the interrogation is by an informant who the defendant does not know is working for the police—even if the informant is in fact working for the police.

Question 2

Under the Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel

Answer 2

where a paid government informant is placed in defendant’s cell, after defendant has been charged, and the informant is not merely silent, but deliberately elicits statements from the defendant regarding the crime for which the defendant has been indicted, the Sixth Amendment right to counsel is violated, and the statements must be excluded.

Question 3

Requirements for Sixth Amendment Violation

Answer 3

(1) the government informant must be paid or otherwise be acting as a government agent
(2) the defendant, as is true in all issues involving the sixth amendment right to counsel, must have been charged; and
(3) the informant must actively ask questions designed to elicit statements regarding the charged crime