McNeil v. Wisconsin

The Sixth Amendment right to counsel does not attach until the initiation of the adversarial judicial process. Even then, it only serves to guarantee the right to have counsel present for critical stages of the adversarial process that has initiated the right in the first place. Miranda protections apply to uncharged matters but only if the suspect is placed in custody and confronted with government interrogation.

The defendant’s invocation of his Sixth Amendment right with respect to the armed robbery does not restrict the use of his statements regarding uncharged offenses. The Miranda right to counsel is not offense-specific. Once asserted, it prevents any further government-initiated interrogation outside the presence of counsel. However, the invocation of the Sixth Amendment right does not impart a Miranda right. The two different rights to counsel have different purposes and effects. The Miranda protections are intended to ensure the suspect’s “desire to deal with the police only through counsel” for any encounter. The Sixth Amendment right is intended to protect the unaided layman at critical confrontations with the government after the initiation of the adversarial process with respect to a particular crime.