The court of appeals reversed a district court judgment denying a petition for writ of habeas corpus. The court held that police officers’ deliberate withholding of Miranda warnings as part of a two-step interrogation strategy rendered ineffective belated warnings provided to a capital defendant.
Police were summoned when Antwion Thompson and his father found Thompson’s girlfriend dead inside her home. Thompson appeared distraught and rested for a time in a police car. Officers then asked that he accompany them to the police station to help in their investigation. Thompson agreed. He was not placed under arrest. Thompson waited several hours at the station before being questioned. By that time, police considered him the primary suspect in his girlfriend’s murder.
