Supreme Court of Alabama, 1989

Rankin v. State

Supreme Court of Alabama · Decided March 17, 1989

541 So. 2d 582; 1989 Ala. LEXIS 125; 1989 WL 36142 (Southern Reporter, Second Series)

Cases that cite this one

2 later published cases cite this decision.

Peoples v. State (Ala. Crim. App. 1992)
Chisler v. State (Ala. Crim. App. 1989)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

PER CURIAM.

In quashing the writ, we are not to be understood as agreeing with the rationale of the Court of Criminal Appeals’ opinion, 541 So.2d 577, (Part I), dealing with the issue whether the testimony of a police *583dispatcher was inadmissible as violative of the “Miranda rule” (Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966)). Without deciding whether this witness was acting on behalf of law enforcement officers or as a private citizen in obtaining an inculpatory statement from the defendant, we hold that the trial court’s admission of the evidence is otherwise sustainable because of the noncustodial context in which the defendant’s statement was made. The safeguards provided by Miranda apply only when an individual is subjected to custodial interrogation. United States v. Phillips, 812 F.2d 1355 (11th Cir. 1987); Pate v. State, 492 So.2d 1026 (Ala.Crim.App. 1986).

WRIT QUASHED.

All the Justices concur.

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