State of Connecticut v. Dante Smith.

Summary

The court affirmed the denial of the defendant's motion to suppress statements made during a crime-scene detention and later at the police station. It held that the public safety exception permitted the officers' pre-warning questions because they reasonably sought information about unaccounted-for weapons and potentially dangerous accomplices. Because the initial questioning was legitimate under that exception, the later statements were not tainted under the rule governing deliberate unwarned questioning followed by Miranda warnings.