State v. Abayuba Rivas (086051) (Union County & Statewide)

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey held that Rivas’s ambiguous request for counsel on March 18 required the detectives to cease questioning or clarify the request, which they failed to do, and that Rivas never freely reinitiated communication before the March 19 interview. Consequently, the March 19 statements were inadmissible, the conviction was vacated, and the case was remanded for a new trial. The Court also rejected the State’s harmless‑error argument, emphasizing the centrality of the suppressed confession to the prosecution’s case.