The People v. Samuel McLean

OPINION OF THE COURT

Smith, J.

We hold that when police are told by a suspect’s lawyer that the lawyer no longer represents him, they may question the suspect without violating his right to counsel.

I

In 2003, defendant was being prosecuted for robbery. He was represented by Steven Kouray, a part-time deputy public defender. Defendant told Kouray that he had information about an unrelated crime, the murder of a young man named Leonder Goodwin, and asked Kouray to see if that information could be used to get him a more lenient sentence in the robbery case. Kouray approached the District Attorney’s…