Buster, Kenneth – 11-SC-92 & 11-SC-93 – To Be Published – Hart County – Affirmed.
The Kentucky Supreme Court held that a Cabinet Social Worker who interviewed a prison inmate about a new investigation was a cooperative state actor for purposes of a Miranda analysis. However, given recent SCOTUS precedent in Howes v. Fields, U.S. , 132 S. Ct. 1181, 1188-89 (2012), under the totality of circumstances a majority of the Court did not believe Appellant was in custody for the interrogation. Justices Noble and Minton dissented, noting that “generally, the inmates are not in charge of when they may come and go.”
Contributed by Linda Horsman
Kentucky Journal of Criminal Justice Education & Research
