Commonwealth v. Santiago

OPINION OF THE COURT

CAPPY, Justice.

The question in this case is whether appellant’s Fifth Amendment right to counsel was violated, where he requested and received counsel immediately upon arrest for one offense, and the police subsequently initiated custodial interrogation concerning other unrelated offenses without the presence of counsel. We find that appellant’s Fifth Amendment right to counsel was violated and vacate the judgments of sentence.

This is an automatic direct appeal1 from a sentence of death imposed upon appellant, Salvador Carlos Santiago, by the Court of Common Pleas of…