Thessen v. State

OPINION

DIMOND, Justice.

Fourteen persons were killed in a fire in the Lane Hotel in Anchorage in September 1966. In a 14 count indictment appellant was charged with first degree murder of those persons while perpetrating arson. He was convicted of 14 counts of manslaughter. He appeals, asserting various points which he claims require a reversal of the judgment of conviction and a new trial.

Appellant’s first point has to do with his privilege against self-incrimination and his right to counsel at the time he was interrogated by the police.

In Miranda v. Arizona 1 the United States Supreme Court…