Bar Exam Rule Statements Practice Test

When questioning has been put on hold because the suspect invoked the right to counsel, any reinitiation of interrogation must rest on a renewed basis for questioning: the suspect must either initiate contact with the police again, or there must be a fresh, knowingly and voluntarily waived rights after readvising them. Readvising the rights helps ensure the waiver is informed, and a new waiver taken with the rights explained makes reinterrogation permissible. If the suspect has not reached out to the police and has not been readvised of the rights, there’s no valid basis to resume questioning. The fact that counsel is present during a reinterrogation can occur in the context of a renewed waiver or the suspect’s own initiation, but by itself it does not create a free-standing basis to reinterrogate.