State v. Ashby

Summary

This separate opinion concurs in the majority's resolution of the other claims but dissents from its conclusion that the jailhouse informant was acting as a state agent when he obtained the defendant's incriminating statements. The opinion would hold that the trial court's finding was supported by substantial evidence and that the statements therefore were not obtained in violation of the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to counsel. It also rejects the majority's use of a plenary standard and its constructive-knowledge test for agency. Justice Mullins, concurring in part and dissenting in part, would affirm the defendant's convictions.