Cooper v. State

This murder case involves application of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Missouri v. Seibert, 542 U.S. 600, 124 S.Ct. 2601, 159 L.Ed.2d 643 (2004). With Seibert, the Court reinforced the protections afforded by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). Miranda, of course, held that a custodial confession obtained without benefit of proper warnings and waiver of the rights to silence and representation by counsel is generally barred from use by the State at trial.

In Seibert, the Supreme Court struck down the two-step, “question first” interrogation strategy…