Maine v. Moulton

After Moulton (defendant) and co-defendant Colson were released on bail for receiving stolen property, Moulton suggested killing a key witness, and Colson subsequently gave police a full confession and agreed to cooperate in exchange for immunity, recording several phone calls with Moulton and later wearing a hidden recording device to an in-person meeting Moulton himself arranged. Though police told Colson not to actively question Moulton about the pending charges, Colson brought up the earlier witness-killing suggestion and encouraged Moulton to discuss criminal details by feigning forgetfulness, eliciting extensive incriminating statements about the charged crimes and planned false alibis. The recording was admitted at Moulton's trial and he was convicted; the state supreme court reversed, finding the admission violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel, and Maine appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.