Massiah v. United States
United States Supreme Court
377 U.S. 201 (1964)
After Massiah (defendant) was indicted on federal narcotics charges, pleaded not guilty with counsel, and was released on bail, his co-defendant Colson secretly agreed to cooperate with police and, wearing a wire, initiated a conversation that drew incriminating statements from Massiah in the absence of his own retained counsel. Those statements were introduced at trial, and Massiah was convicted; the court of appeals affirmed, and Massiah argued the statements' admission violated his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights.
Whether, where a suspect has invoked his right to counsel, his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights are violated where police deliberately elicit incriminating statements from him after indictment and in the absence of his retained counsel.