Escamilla v. State

In Escamilla v. State, 143 S.W.3d 814 (Tex.Crim.App. 2004), cert. denied, 544 U.S. 950 (2005), the evidence showed that the police permitted the reporter to interview the defendant in jail after the defendant had consented to the interview in response to the reporter's request. 143 S.W.3d at 822. The defendant claimed the reporter became a state agent when, after the defendant had consented to the interview but before the interview took place, a police officer called the reporter and, in an effort to reassure the reporter he did not intend to block the interview, explained to the reporter "I want you to get him to talk" because "he won't talk to me." Id. at 822-23. The Court of Criminal Appeals held that the officer's statement did not constitute an offer for the reporter to act as a state agent, and thus the defendant's statement to the reporter was not the product of a custodial interrogation. Id. at 824.