The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held last week that a waiver of Miranda rights by a man with an IQ level in the sixties and who had a brain aneurysm decreasing his IQ by approximately 10 points was valid.

James Collins was convicted of murdering his girl friend in the early morning hours of May 1, 2001 after they spent several hours smoking crack cocaine. He had a long history of mental illness and the trial court heard the testimony of five experts before allowing the Mirandized testimony into evidence. After his arrest on the morning of the death, Collins gave several statements, some of which admitted to killing Flora Lanier. The testimony of witnesses was mixed and it is doubtful that they could have gotten a conviction without his statements.

A waiver of the right to remain silent must be knowingly and intelligently made. Furthermore the waiver must be “the product of a free and deliberate choice rather than intimidation, coercion, or deception.” In other words Collins must have understood what he was doing when he waived his right to remain silent and he must have had some degree of understanding of the possible consequences of the waiver.

After the conviction Collins appealed and the appeal was denied. Then he filed a writ of habeas corpus in the state appellate court. It was denied and the Illinois Supreme Court refused to hear the matter. Then he filed a writ in the Federal District Court. It was denied but he was given permission to appeal to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Seventh Circuit while agreeing that there was no question that Collins was mentally deficient found that he did not meet the standard for habeas corpus. Under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) “a federal court may not issue a writ of habeas corpus unless the state court’s adjudication of the petitioner’s claim either ‘resulted in a decision that was contrary to, or involved an unreasonable application of, clearly established Federal law, as determined by the Supreme Court of the United States,’ or ‘resulted in a decision that was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the State court proceeding.”

The Seventh Circuit found no Supreme Court precedent requiring the police “to take ‘special care’ that a suspect with a mental disability understands his rights.” Therefore the state court did not violate “clearly established Federal law.” Furthermore while the experts were divided the Seventh Circuit held that it cannot be said that the state courts was based on an unreasonable determination of the facts. When talking to the police Collins was rational. He understood the question and gave logical answers. As a result Collins met the relatively low bar and he had sufficient knowledge of what he was doing when he waived his right to remain silent.