Opinion of Souter, J.
decision" to withhold Miranda warnings, thus resorting to an interrogation technique he had been taught: question first, then give the warnings, and then repeat the question "until I get the answer that she's already provided once." App. 31–34. He acknowledged that Seibert's ultimate statement was "largely a repeat of information. . . obtained" prior to the warning. Id., at 30.
The trial court suppressed the prewarning statement but admitted the responses given after the Miranda recitation. A jury convicted Seibert of second degree murder. On appeal, the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed, treating this case as indistinguishable from Oregon v. Elstad, 470 U.S. 298 (1985). No. 23729, 2002 WL 114804 (Jan. 30, 2002) (not released for publication).
The Supreme Court of Missouri reversed, holding that "[i]n the circumstances here, where the interrogation was nearly continuous, . . . the second statement, clearly the product of the invalid first statement, should have been suppressed." 93 S. W. 3d 700, 701 (2002) (en banc). The court distinguished Elstad on the ground that warnings had not intentionally been withheld there, 93 S. W. 3d, at 704, and reasoned that "Officer Hanrahan's intentional omission of a Miranda warning was intended to deprive Seibert of the opportunity knowingly and intelligently to waive her Miranda rights," id., at 706. Since there were "no circumstances that would seem to dispel the effect of the Miranda violation," the court held that the postwarning confession was involuntary and therefore inadmissible. Ibid. To allow the police to achieve an "end run" around Miranda, the court explained, would encourage Miranda violations and diminish Miranda's role in protecting the privilege against self-incrimination. 93 S. W. 3d, at 706–707. Three judges dissented, taking the view that Elstad applied even though the police intentionally withheld Miranda warnings before the initial statement, and believing that "Seibert's unwarned responses to Officer Hanrahan's questioning did not prevent
