State of New Jersey, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Michael A. Maltese, Defendant-Appellant

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey held that the defendant’s repeated requests to speak with his uncle invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, rendering his subsequent recorded statement to the uncle inadmissible and the later police confession the fruit of that violation; the police statements may be used for impeachment, and the convictions for manslaughter and murder were reversed and remanded for retrial, while other convictions were affirmed.