Willis v. State

I respectfully dissent from the majority’s opinion because I believe the trial court’s admission of appellant’s custodial statements was erroneous.

1. This case is no different than Robinson v. State, 286 Ga. 42 (684 SE2d 863) (2009). In that case, after being read his Miranda rights, the defendant responded to questioning as follows:

Detective: Knowing these rights that I just advised you, do you wish to speak to me without an attorney present? Robinson: Uhm, yeah, I would like a lawyer.

This Court determined that, despite the words “uhm yeah,” a seemingly affirmative response to the leading…