Macias v. State

In Macias v. State, 733 S.W.2d 192, 194 (Tex. Crim. App. 1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1079, 98 L. Ed. 2d 1021, 108 S. Ct. 1059 (1988), an assistant district attorney arranged to place a capital murder defendant in a jail cell with a particular inmate but did not inform the inmate of the reason for the defendant's cell assignment. The inmate later contacted the District Attorney's office regarding incriminating statements made by the defendant. At trial, the defendant claimed the incriminating statements were inadmissible under Article 38.22 as the product of unlawful custodial interrogation. The Court disagreed, holding that the inmate was not "acting as an agent of law enforcement personnel" because he was never told why appellant was placed in his cell and was never asked to question the defendant or to report his discoveries to anyone. Id. at 195.