United States v. Henry

The Court noted that the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel had attached at the time he made the statements. Further, the Court held that the government’s specific mention of the defendant to the undercover informant, who was paid on a contingency fee basis, constituted the type of affirmative steps to secure incriminating information from defendant outside the presence of his counsel. Under these facts, that the informant was acting under instructions as a paid informant for the government, and that the defendant was in custody and under indictment at the time, incriminating statements were “deliberately elicited” from the defendant within the meaning of Massiah. This is the type of evidence collection prohibited by the Sixth Amendment.