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July Exam - Criminal Procedure > Confessions > Flashcards

Confessions Flashcards

1
Q

Amendments Implicated in Confessions Issues

A
  • Fourth
  • Fifth
  • Sixth
  • Fourteenth
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2
Q

Confessions - Fourteenth Amendment

A
  • addresses voluntariness of confession (due process)
  • for self-incriminating statement to be admissible under Due Process Clause, must be VOLUNTARY
  • evaluated based on totality of circumstances
  • involuntary only if there is some official compulsion (book notes merely product of mental illness not enough)
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3
Q

Involuntary Confession Error - Standard of Review on Appeal

A
  • harmless error test
  • if involuntary confession is admitted into evidence, conviction need not be overturned if there is overwhelming ev of guilt
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4
Q

Sixth Amendment - Right to Counsel

A
  • 6th Am guarantees right to assistance of counsel in all crim proceedings -> includes all critical stages of a prosecution after judicial proceedings have begun
  • prohibits police from deliberately eliciting incriminating statement from def outside presence of counsel after def has been charged UNLESS def has waived right to counsel
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5
Q

6th Am Right to Counsel - Timing

A
  • applies after judicial proceedings have begun (ex formal charges filed)
  • 6th Am right to counsel does not exist BEFORE formal proceedings begin (ex: def arrested but not yet charged) -> BUT even though def wouldn’t have 6th Am right in that case, def WOULD have 5th Am right to counsel under Miranda
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6
Q

Stages at Which 6th Am Right to Counsel Applies

A
  • post-indictment interrogation, whether or not custodial
  • preliminary hearings to determine probable cause to prosecute
  • arraignment
  • post-charge lineups
  • guilty plea + 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
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7
Q

Stage at Which 6th Am Right to Counsel Does NOT Apply

A
  • 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 def’s testimony at trial
  • discretionary appeals
  • parole and probation revocation proceedings
  • post-conviction proceedings
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8
Q

6th Am Right to Counsel - Scope of Application

A
  • 6th Am right to counsel is OFFENSE SPECIFIC -> means that even if def’s 6th Am rights have attached for one charge, def can be questioned regarding unrelated, uncharged offenses without violating 6th Am
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9
Q

6th Am Right to Counsel - Waiver

A
  • can waive, but must do so in a knowing + voluntary way
  • the waiver doesn’t necessarily require presence of counsel, if counsel hasn’t actually been requested by def but was appointed by court
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10
Q

Violation of 6th Am Right to Counsel - Remedy

A
  • for NONTRIAL proceedings (ex: post-indictment interrogations), harmless error rule applies
  • BUT for TRIAL, failure to provide counsel results in automatic reversal of the conviction, even w/o showing of specific unfairness in proceedings
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11
Q

Violation of 6th Am Right to Counsel - Impeachment

A
  • statement obtained in violation of def’s 6th Am right to counsel CAN’T be used in prosecution’s case in chief, but CAN be used to impeach def’s contrary trial testimony
  • similar to rule that applies to Miranda violations
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12
Q

Fifth Amendment + Confessions

A
  • protects against compelled self-incrimination
  • Miranda warnings
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13
Q

Miranda Warnings - Overview

A
  • required when a suspect is in a custodial interrogation
  • for an admission/confession to be admissible under 5th Am, person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be informed of their Miranda rights (see substantive card)
    -> warnings need not be verbatim so long as substance is conveyed
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14
Q

Miranda Warnings - Substantive Components

A
  • the person has the right to remain silent
  • anything the person says can be used against them in court
  • person has the right to the presence of an attorney
  • if the person cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for them if they so desire
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15
Q

Miranda Warnings - When Required

A
  • 2 core factors: custody of gov and interrogation
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16
Q

Miranda Warnings - Governmental Conduct

A
  • generally, Miranda warnings necessary only if person being detained knows that they’re being interrogated by a gov agent
  • not necessary when being interrogated by informant whom def doesn’t know is working for police
17
Q

Miranda Warnings - Grand Jury

A
  • Miranda warnings don’t apply to uncharged witness testifying before grand jury, even if witness was compelled by subpoena to be there
18
Q

Miranda Warnings - Custody Requirement

A

Two-step evaluation:
1 - “freedom of movement test” - whether reasonable person under the circumstances would feel they were free to terminate the interrogation + leave (consider all circumstances)
2 - whether relevant environment presents the same coercive pressures as the type of station house questioning at issue in Miranda

19
Q

Miranda Warnings - Interrogation Requirement

A
  • interrogation = words or conduct by police that they should know would elicit an incriminating response from detained individual
  • warnings NOT required before spontaneous statements made by detained individual
  • routine booking q’s don’t count as interrogation
20
Q

Miranda Warnings - 4 Possible Responses of Detained Individuals

A
  • do nothing -> if no response, court won’t presume waiver, but ALSO won’t presume asserted right to remain silent or consult with counsel -> police can continue questioning
  • waive rights - gov must show by preponderance of ev that waiver was knowing + voluntary, judged on basis of totality of circumstances (although usually if gov can show def continued to answer q’s after warnings, it’s treated as sufficient waiver)
  • invoke right to remain silent
  • invoke right to counsel
21
Q

Miranda Warnings - Invocation of Right to Remain Silent

A
  • to be effective, needs to be explicit, unambiguous, + unequivocal
  • once effectively invoked, police must scrupulously honor def’s request -> can’t badger
  • note though that in one SCOTUS opinion, police were allowed to resume questioning after waiting significant amount of time, re-Mirandizing def, and limited q’s to crime not the subject of the earlier questioning
22
Q

Miranda Warnings - Invocation of Right to Counsel

A
  • if detained individual unambiguously indicates they wish to speak to counsel, all questioning must cease until counsel has been provided unless detained individual 1) then waives right to counsel OR 2) is released from custodial interrogation back to normal life+ 14 days have passed since release
  • request for counsel must be specific
  • allowing detained individual to consult w/ counsel + then resuming interrogation after counsel has left generally doesn’t satisfy right to counsel
23
Q

Miranda Warnings - Effect of Invoking Right to Remain Silent vs. Invoking Right to Counsel

A
  • if detained individual only invokes right to remain silent, police can probably requestion after a break about a different crime if fresh warnings administered
  • if requests counsel, police CAN’T resume questioning until counsel provided or detained individual initiates questioning
24
Q

Miranda Warnings - Effect of a Violation

A
  • generally, evidence obtained in violation of Miranda rules = inadmissible at trial under exclusionary rule

Exceptions
- use of confession for impeachment of def’s trial testimony (jury technically isn’t allowed to consider for guilt)
- second confession after inadvertent violation of Miranda rules produced first confession and def was rewarned
- nontestimonial fruits of unwarned confession (depends on whether failure to give Miranda warnings purposeful or inadvertent)

25
Q

Violation of Miranda Warnings - Warnings After Questioning and Confession

A

If police obtain a confession from detained individual w/o giving Miranda warnings, then give Miranda warnings + obtain a second confession, the second confession is:
- inadmissible if the question first, warn later strategy appears intentional
- possibly admissible if original unwarned questioning seems unplanned + failure to warn seems inadvertent

26
Q

Miranda Warnings - Nontestimonial Fruits of an Unwarned Confession

A
  • if police fail to give Miranda warnings + during interrogation detained individual gives police info that leads to nontestimonial evidence, ev will be suppressed if failure purposeful, but likely not if inadvertent
27
Q

Miranda Warnings - Public Safety Exception

A
  • SCOTUS has allowed interrogation w/o Miranda warnings when reasonably prompted by concern for public safety
28
Q

Pretrial Identification - 6th Am Right to Counsel

A
  • suspect has right to presence of counsel at any post-charge lineup or showup
  • does NOT have right at photo identifications or when police take physical evidence (ex: blood samples, handwriting, fingerprints)
29
Q

Pretrial Identifications - Due Process Standard

A
  • def can attack identification as denying due process if id is unnecessarily suggestive + there is substantial likelihood of misidentification
30
Q

Lineups - Fifth Amendment

A
  • def CAN’T refuse to take part in lineup on 5th Am self-incrimination grounds (b/c lineup doesn’t involve compulsion to give “testimonial” ev)
31
Q

Remedy for Unconstitutional Identifications

A
  • exclusion of the in-court identification
  • BUT witness may make in-court id despite existence of unconstitutional pretrial id if in-court id has independent source (ex: witness observed def closeup for several minutes during commission of crime)
32
Q

Remedy for Unconstitutional Identifications - Hearing

A
  • admissibility of id evidence should be determined at a suppression hearing in absence of jury, although exclusion of jury not constitutionally required
  • gov bears burden of proving: 1) counsel was present, 2) accuased waived counsel, or 3) there’s an independent source for the in-court id
  • def must prove an alleged due process violation

July Exam - Criminal Procedure (14 decks)

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