Confessions Flashcards
Requirement of a Voluntary Confession
Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment:
For a self-incriminating statement to be admissible, it must be made voluntarily.
Voluntariness determined by the totality of the circumstances.
Harmless Error Test applies: If an involuntary confession is admitted into evidence, the conviction need not be overturned if there is other overwhelming evidence of guilt.
Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel
Applies to all critical stages of the prosecution AFTER formal charges have been filed.
Prohibits the police from deliberately eliciting an incriminating statement from the Defendant, outside the presence of counsel, after the Defendant has been formally charged.
The defendant can still WAIVE the right to counsel.
NOTE: No 6A violation before formal proceedings have
begun. E.g., a defendant who is arrested but not yet
charged does not have a Sixth Amendment right to counsel but does have a Fifth Amendment right to counsel under Miranda.
Stages When 6A Right to Counsel Applies
Post-indictment interrogation
Preliminary hearings to determine probable cause to prosecute
Arraignment
Post-charge lineups
Guilty plea and sentencing
Felony trials
Misdemeanor trials when imprisonment is actually imposed or when a suspended jail sentence is imposed
Overnight recesses during trial
Appeals as a matter of right
Appeals of guilty pleas
Stages When 6A Right to Counsel DOES NOT Apply
- Blood sampling
- Taking of handwriting or voice exemplars
- Precharge or investigative lineups
- Photo identifications
- Preliminary hearings to determine probable cause to detain
- Brief recesses during the defendant’s testimony at trial
- Discretionary appeals
- Parole and probation revocation proceedings
- Post-conviction proceedings
6A Right to Counsel Being Offense Specific
Sixth Amendment rights have attached regarding the charge for which they are being held, but the defendant may be questioned regarding unrelated, uncharged offenses without violating the 6A right to counsel.
Waiver of 6A Right to Counsel
The Sixth Amendment right to counsel may be waived.
Waiver must be knowing and voluntary.
Does not necessarily require the presence of counsel (if appointed)
Remedy for 6A Right to Counsel Violation
If a NONTRIAL proceeding (such as post-indictment interrogations), the harmless error rule applies to deprivations of counsel.
BUT if D was entitled to a lawyer at trial, the failure to provide counsel results in automatic reversal of the conviction, even without a showing of specific unfairness in the proceedings.
Using 6A Right to Counsel violations to Impeach the Defendant
A statement obtained in violation of a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel may be used to impeach the defendant’s contrary trial testimony.
When does a defendant need to be read their Miranda rights?
Miranda warnings are required when a person is in custodial interrogation, before interrogation by the police.
They are necessary ONLY IF the detainee knows they are being interrogated by a government agent.
The Miranda requirements do not apply to an uncharged witness testifying before a grand jury, even if the witness was compelled to be there.
What are a person’s Miranda rights?
Person must be told:
- Right to remain silent
- Anything said can be used against them in court
- Right to attorney, or one will be appointed for them
Do not need to be read verbatim, so long as they are all essentially there
When is a person in “custody” for purposes of Miranda?
1) Whether a reasonable person under the circumstances would feel that they were free to terminate the interrogation and leave.
2) If yes, ask whether the environment presents an inherently coercive pressure (i.e., the more
constrained the suspect feels, the more likely the Court will consider it to be custody.
What is an “interrogation” for purposes of Miranda?
Any words or conduct by the police that they should know would likely elicit an incriminating response from the detainee.
Spontaneous statements are made by a detainee is therefore NOT an interrogation.
Routine booking questions do not constitute interrogation
How to Invoke Right to Remain Silent
Must be explicit, unambiguous, and unequivocal
If the detainee indicates that they wish to remain silent, the police must honor this request by not badgering the detainee
Invocation of Right to Counsel
If the detainee unambiguously indicates that they wish to speak to counsel, all questioning must cease until counsel has been provided UNLESS the detainee:
(1) then waives their right to counsel (for example, by reinitiating questioning) or
(2) is released from the custodial interrogation back to their normal life and 14 days have passed
Effect of Miranda Violation
Generally inadmissible
Statements may be used to impeach D’s trial testimony, but not as evidence of guilt
If the statement gives police information that leads to non-testimonial evidence -> evidence suppressed if Miranda warnings purposefully not given (but likely admitted if failure to give warnings not purposeful)
