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THE QUESTIONING OF DEFENDANT CONTINUED DESPITE HER REPEATED STATEMENTS THAT SHE HAD NOTHING ELSE TO SAY AND WAS DONE TALKING; THE MOTION TO SUPPRESS SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED; NEW TRIAL ORDERED (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing defendant’s conviction and ordering a new trial, determined the defendant had unequivocally and repeated stated that she was “done talking” and had “nothing else to say” during her interrogation by investigators. The interrogators continued questioning her as if they hadn’t heard her assert her right to remain silent:

… [W]hile being interrogated at the police station, defendant stated to the investigators six separate times that she had “nothing else to . . . say” and that she was “done talking.” Even if defendant’s initial statement that she had nothing else to say may have been prompted by her “unwillingness to change [her] story” ,,, , she repeated her desire to stop talking even after the conversation shifted to another topic … . It is clear from a viewing of the interrogation video that defendant repeatedly stated in no uncertain terms that she no longer wished to answer any more questions from the investigators. There was nothing equivocal about defendant’s invocations of the right to remain silent, which were not scrupulously honored by the investigators, who continued the interrogation as if they did not hear what defendant had said.

We thus conclude that the court erred in refusing to suppress any and all statements made by defendant on August 19, 2020 after 12:03 a.m. on the interrogation video. “Inasmuch as there is a reasonable possibility that the erroneous admission of defendant’s inculpatory statements contributed to the verdict, the error in refusing to suppress all of those statements cannot be considered harmless, and reversal is required” … . People v Lipton, 2025 NY Slip Op 02691, Fourth Dept 5-2-25

Practice Point: Any statements made in response to questioning after a defendant has told the interrogators he/she is “done talking” and has “nothing else to say” must be suppressed.

 

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