Whitfield v. State

Murphy, C. J., and Smith, J., concur in part and dissent in part. Murphy, C. J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part at page 144 infra, in which Smith, J., concurs.

We granted certiorari in this case to address what has been described as “probably the most difficult and frequently raised question in the wake of Miranda — what constitutes the ‘in custody interrogation’ or ‘custodial questioning’ which must be preceded by the Miranda warnings.” 1 Specifically, we are asked to decide: (1) whether, in the absence of Miranda admonitions, statements elicited from the…