BRADFORD, J.
Lewis contends that his question, “Can I get a lawyer?” constituted an unequivocal invocation of his Fifth Amendment right to counsel. We agree. Lewis relies primarily on United States v. Lee, in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit determined a suspect’s question, “Can I have a lawyer?” to be “similar to [other] statements recognized by th[e] court as proper invocations of the right to an attorney.” [Footnote omitted.] 413 F.3d 622, 626 (7th Cir. 2005). The Lee court concluded, “unless the police obtained further clarification from [the suspect] that this was actually an unequivocal request for an attorney, they should have halted the interrogation.” Id. We see no reason to depart from the Lee court’s holding in this case, which involves an essentially identical question posed by the defendant. Much as the question, “Can I get the car tonight?” would be universally understood as a request to borrow the car tonight, and not as a theoretical question regarding one’s ability to borrow the car tonight, we have little trouble concluding that Lewis’s question would be understood by any reasonable police officer as an unequivocal request for counsel.
The State relies on Powell v. State, 898 N.E.2d 328 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008), trans. denied, in arguing that Lewis’s question, “Can I get a lawyer?” was ambiguous. In Powell, a man arrested for drug possession asked, “Could I see about getting a lawyer or something man?” during custodial interrogation. Id. at 332. This court concluded that the wording of this question was “ambiguous and not sufficiently clear as to constitute a request for an attorney.” Id. at 337. Powell, however, is distinguishable. First, a great deal of the ambiguity of the suspect’s question in Powell stems from the use of the verb “could.” 898 N.E.2d at 332. “Can means ‘to be able to’ and expresses certainty…. Could is better for a sense of uncertainty or a conditional statement.” THE CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE sec 5.220, at 270 (16th ed. 2010) (emphases added). The use of “could” by the suspect in Powell, therefore, may be interpreted as an expression of doubt regarding the suspect’s intent to request an attorney, whereas Lewis’s use of “can” in asking, “Can I get a lawyer?” is more reasonably interpreted as an intentional request for such. See Taylor v. State, 689 N.E.2d 699, 703 (Ind. 1997) (finding the statement, “I guess I really want a lawyer, but, I mean, I’ve never done this before so I don’t know,” to be an expression of doubt, not a request); see also Davis, 512 U.S. at 462 (finding the statement, “Maybe I should talk to a lawyer” to be an ambiguous request for counsel). Furthermore, the uncertainty of the suspect’s question in Powell seems to be emphasized by the question’s closing phrase, “or something.” 898 N.E.2d at 332. This additional factor is not present in Lewis’s question. The State’s reliance on Powell is unavailing. [Footnote omitted.]
ROBB, C.J., and FRIEDLANDER, J., concur.