Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387 (1977), is a decision by the United States Supreme Court that clarifies what constitutes "waiver" of the right to counsel for the purposes of the Sixth Amendment.

At issue was whether a voluntary admission of incriminating facts in response to police statements made while the defendant was in custody and outside the presence of his lawyer constituted a waiver of this right to counsel.

On the afternoon of December 24, 1968, a 10-year-old girl named Pamela Powers went with her family to the YMCA in Des Moines, Iowa, to watch a wrestling tournament in which her brother was participating.

Williams surrendered that morning to the police in Davenport, who booked him on the charge specified in the arrest warrant and gave him the warnings required by Miranda v.

Before leaving the courtroom, Williams conferred with a lawyer named Kelly, who advised him not to make any statements until consulting with McKnight back in Des Moines.

Detective Leaming and his fellow officer arrived in Davenport about noon to pick up Williams and return him to Des Moines.

When Leaming expressed some reservations, Kelly firmly stated that the agreement with McKnight was to be carried out: that there was to be no interrogation of Williams during the automobile journey to Des Moines.

Then, not long after leaving Davenport and reaching the interstate highway, Detective Leaming delivered what has been referred to in the briefs and oral arguments as the "Christian burial speech."

Number one, I want you to observe the weather conditions, it's raining, it's sleeting, it's freezing, driving is very treacherous, visibility is poor, it's going to be dark early this evening.

As the car approached Grinnell, a town approximately 100 mi west of Davenport, Williams asked whether the police had found the victim's shoes.

When Detective Leaming replied that he was unsure, Williams directed the officers to a service station where he said he had left the shoes; a search for them proved unsuccessful.

Before trial, his counsel moved to suppress all evidence relating to or resulting from any statements Williams had made during the automobile ride from Davenport to Des Moines.

Counsel for the state and for Williams stipulated that "the case would be submitted on the record of facts and proceedings in the trial court, without taking of further testimony."

The District Court made findings of fact as summarized above, and concluded as a matter of law that the evidence in question had been wrongly admitted at Williams' trial.

The Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, with one judge dissenting, affirmed this judgment and denied a petition for rehearing en banc.

This is not to be read as stating that a defendant may not waive his right to counsel after invoking it, but the strictness is necessary to counter the pressure of law enforcement in solving a crime.

Once judicial proceedings begin (here, the arraignment in Davenport, Iowa), the Sixth Amendment dictates that a suspect has the right to counsel.