## Facts

- Michael Porter was shot and killed during a gas-station robbery in Jackson County, Mississippi; an accomplice fired the fatal shot.
- Tevin James Benjamin, age 14, was arrested and questioned in connection with the robbery-homicide and charged with capital murder (robbery as the underlying felony).
- Benjamin’s mother was present during custodial questioning.
- After receiving Miranda warnings, Benjamin requested a lawyer.
- Benjamin’s mother stated she could not afford an attorney; officers did not clearly dispel that misunderstanding by explaining appointed-counsel availability.
- Officers left Benjamin alone with his mother and returned after she urged him to talk; officers told them that to talk he would have to request to speak to “either a lawyer, the judge, or police,” and said they only wanted his “side of the story.”
- Officers stated that because he was charged with capital murder Benjamin would spend the night in jail, and later suggested his post-interview status would “depend on how he answered their questions.”
- After renewed Miranda warnings, Benjamin gave a statement maintaining an alibi; the prosecution used the statement and other evidence to argue Benjamin was lying and involved.
- The trial court denied a suppression motion; Benjamin was convicted, and he appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether police violated Miranda and Edwards by obtaining a custodial statement after Benjamin unambiguously invoked counsel, including by using conduct amounting to the functional equivalent of interrogation through his mother.
2. Whether the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Benjamin knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waived his previously invoked right to counsel under the totality of the circumstances, considering his age and the interrogation setting.
3. Whether admission of the statement was harmless given its use to attack Benjamin’s alibi and support the prosecution’s theory of participation.

## Decision

- The Mississippi Supreme Court reversed Benjamin’s capital-murder conviction and remanded for further proceedings.
- The court held Benjamin’s statement was obtained in violation of the Miranda/Edwards right-to-counsel rule after he invoked counsel.
- The court found officers’ actions were the functional equivalent of interrogation because they used Benjamin’s mother as an intermediary and suggested cooperation could affect whether he spent the night in jail.
- The court held the State failed to meet its heavy burden to show a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver after invocation of counsel.
- The court concluded the error was not harmless because the statement was used to challenge Benjamin’s alibi and could have contributed to the verdict.

## Legal Principles

- Once a suspect invokes the right to counsel during custodial interrogation, police must cease interrogation until counsel is present unless the suspect initiates further communication and a valid waiver is obtained.
- “Interrogation” includes not only express questioning but also police words or actions reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response (the functional equivalent of questioning).
- Police may violate the post-invocation rule by creating conditions that predictably induce a juvenile to speak through a parent or guardian acting as an intermediary.
- After invocation of counsel, the prosecution bears a heavy burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that any later waiver was knowing, intelligent, and voluntary.
- Juvenile age and vulnerability are central to the totality-of-circumstances analysis; suggestions of leniency or consequences tied to cooperation, and confusion about appointed counsel, weigh against voluntariness.

## Conclusion

The court suppressed a 14-year-old’s post-invocation custodial statement and reversed his conviction because officers effectively continued interrogation after he requested counsel by channeling pressure through his mother and linking immediate custody consequences to how he answered, defeating any claim of a valid waiver.


Benjamin v. State, 116 So. 3d 115 (Miss. 2013)