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S T A T E O F M I C H I G A N
C O U R T O F A P P E A L S


PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v CHRISTOPHER YOUNG, Defendant-Appellant.

UNPUBLISHED July 19, 1996

No. 171953 LC No. 93-005728

Before: Neff, P.J., and Fitzgerald and C.A. Nelson,* JJ. PER CURIAM. Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of second-degree murder, MCL 750.317; MSA 28.549, and was sentenced to twenty to thirty years' imprisonment. He appeals as of right, and we affirm. While defendant was detained in the Wayne County Jail on a charge of writing a check for non sufficient funds, Sgt. Donald Haigh of the Westland Police Department visited defendant to question him about the murder of Jeffrey Dansby. Defendant agreed to submit to a polygraph test. During the polygraph test, defendant became emotionally upset and said "I should talk with someone." The polygraph examiner replied "I'm someone. You can talk with me." Defendant then confessed to the murder. Defendant claimed that Dansby attempted to force him at knifepoint to submit to sodomy. In the ensuing struggle, defendant seized the knife and mortally stabbed Dansby. After the murder, defendant stole Dansby's car and several electronic appliances. In his first issue on appeal, defendant claims that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the statements he made to the police in the Wayne County Jail. Defendant raises a two-fold argument with regard to the interrogation. First, he claims that his Sixth Amendment rights were violated when Haigh interrogated him outside the presence of his attorney when he had asserted his right to counsel with regard to the non-sufficient funds case. Second, he claims that his Fifth Amendment rights were violated when the officers continued to question him after he requested an attorney.

* Circuit judge, sitting on the Court of Appeals by assignment.
-1

Both the federal and state constitutions guarantee the right of an accused person to the assistance of counsel. US Const, Am VI; Const 1963, art 1,

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