What is the impact of a police interview on a defendant's right to remain silent?

Defendant was thus confronting nothing like a level playing field. He "was alone in the hands of the police, with no one to advise or aid him." (Haynes v. Washington (1963) 373 U.S. 503, 514, 83 S.Ct. 1336, 1343, 10 L.Ed.2d 513.) It soon became apparent to him that his attempts to halt the questioning, using the right he was told was his, were a waste of time because the officers were not going to respect his invocation of that right. Again and again defendant told the officers that he did not wish to speak to them, to no avail. Each time defendant stated he did not wish to speak further, the officers ostensibly agreed to talk about other matters, but they soon resumed questioning him about

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Defendant was not that rare suspect. Before he invoked his right to remain silent, defendant had admitted only that he had been carrying a knife; that he had been running when he was stopped by police; and that he had a "serious problem." He would not admit that he had met any woman, much less the victim. By the time the interrogation ended, defendant had admitted that he was alone when "this bad thing happened"; that he thought he would be "in jail for a long time" because of the "problem" he had; that he had committed an "error" that night; that he knew what had happened; and that he had met the victim. And by shaking his head just after being told of the victim's death and being asked whether there was another person the police should be looking for, defendant tacitly admitted that he alone was responsible for the victim's murder. Viewed in their totality, defendant's admissions amounted to an inculpatory statement tantamount to a confession. (See People v. McClary (1977) 20 Cal.3d 218, 230, 142 Cal.Rptr. 163, 571 P.2d 620; Evid.Code, 135, 225.) The means by which the statement was obtained--"inherently coercive police tactics[,] methods offensive to due process," and direct "police infringement of the Fifth Amendment itself" (Oregon v. Elstad, supra, 470 U.S. 298 at pp. 317, 369, 105 S.Ct. 1285 at pp. 1297, 1324)--taint it as constitutionally involuntary. (See note 5, ante.)