CrimP 5 - Confessions Flashcards
Confessions
The admissibility of a defendant’s confession (or other incriminating admission) involves analysis under the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments.
FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT—VOLUNTARINESS
For a self-incriminating statement to be admissible under the Due Process Clause, it must be voluntary, as determined by the totality of the circumstances.
A statement will be involuntary only if there is some official COMPULSION (for example, a confession is not involuntary merely because it is a product of mental illness).
Confessions must be VOLUNTARY
- Voluntariness determined by totality of circumstances
Harmless Error Test Applies
If an involuntary confession is admitted into evidence, the harmless error test applies; this means the conviction need not be overturned if there is other overwhelming evidence of guilt.
If involuntary confession admitted into evidence…
- Harmless error test applies > conviction need not be overturned if overwhelming evidence of guilt.
If an involuntary confession is admitted into evidence, the harmless error test applies; this means the conviction need not be overturned if there is other overwhelming evidence of guilt.
Sixth Amendment RIght to Counsel
- Applies to all CRITICIAL STAGES of prosection AFTER judicial proceedinfgs have begun.
The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to the assistance of counsel in all criminal proceedings, which include all critical stages of a prosecution after judicial proceedings have begun (for example, formal charges have been filed).
It prohibits the police from deliberately eliciting an incriminating statement from a defendant outside the presence of counsel AFTER THE DEFENDANT HAS BEEN CHARGED, UNLESS the defendant has waived their right to counsel.
NOTE: there can be no violation of the Sixth Amend- ment right to counsel before formal proceedings have begun.
Thus, a D 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 (see below) under Miranda.
When does the Sixth Amendment right to counsel arise?
What about the Fifth amendment right to counsel?
that there can be no violation of the Sixth Amend- ment right to counsel before formal proceedings have begun. Thus, 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 (see below) under Miranda.
Stages when 6th Amendment right to counsel applies
A defendant has a right to be represented by privately retained counsel, or to have counsel appointed for them by the state if the defendant is indigent, at the following stages:
• Post-indictment interrogation (interrogation AFTER), whether or not custodial
• 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 6th Amendment right to counsel does NOT apply:
Stages at Which Not Applicable
• 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
Sixth Amendment right to counsel is OFFENSE SPECIFIC:
Rule:
Two offenses will be considered different if…
The Sixth Amendment is offense specific.
Thus, even though a defendant’s Sixth Amendment rights have attached regarding the charge for which they are being held, the defendant may be questioned regarding UNRELATED, UNCHARGED offenses without violating the Sixth Amendment right to counsel
(although the interrogation might violate the defendant’s Fifth Amendment right to counsel under Miranda).
Two offenses will be considered different if EACH requires proof of an additional element that the other crime does not require.
Police can ask you OTHER questions UNRELATED to the crime being charged…
Waiver of Sixth amendment right to counsel
The Sixth Amendment right to counsel may be waived.
Waiver of right to counsel must be KNOWING AND VOLUNTARY.
Does NOT require counsel to be present. The waiver does not necessarily require the presence of counsel, at least if counsel has not actually been requested by the defendant but rather was appointed by the court.
Remedy for violation of Sixth amendment right to counsel.
NONTRIAL: At nontrial proceedings (such as post-indictment interrogations), the harmless error rule applies to deprivations of counsel.
AT TRIAL: But if the defendant 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.
Similarly, erroneous disqualification of privately retained counsel at trial results in automatic reversal.
Impeachment
A statement obtained in violation of a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel, while NOT admissible in the prosecution’s case-in- chief, may be used to impeach the defendant’s contrary trial testi- mony.
This rule is similar to the rule that applies to Miranda violations.
FIFTH AMENDMENT PRIVILEGE AGAINST COMPELLED SELF-INCRIMINATION
.
Miranda Warnings:
Required when?
What are the warnings?
Standard?
Required when person in (i) CUSTODIAL (ii) INTERROGATION (iii) by the police.
Miranda warnings are required when a suspect is in custodial interrogation.
For an admission or confession to be admissible under the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, a person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be informed, in substance, that:
• The person has the right to remain silent
• Anything the person says can be used against them in court
• The person has the right to presence of an attorney; and
• If the person cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for them if they so desire.
Note that the warnings need not be verbatim so long as the substance of the warnings is conveyed.
Do miranda warnigns need to be verbatim?
No. Note that the warnings need not be verbatim so long as the substance of the warnings is conveyed.
The failure to give the Miranda warnings violates what?
Despite the fact that the Miranda warnings mention a right to counsel, the failure to give the warnings violates a defendant’s Fifth Amendment right to be free from compelled self-incrimination, not their Sixth Amendment right to counsel.
Thus, do not be fooled by an answer choice that states such failure is a violation of defendant’s Sixth Amendment rights.
When are Miranda warnings required?
Anyone in the custody of the government and accused of a crime must be given Miranda warnings prior to interrogation by the police.
a. Governmental Conduct:
b. Custody Requirement: two step process below
c. Interrogation Requirement
When are Miranda warnings required? a. GOVERNMENTAL CONDUCT
a. Governmental Conduct: Miranda warnings necessry ONLY if detainee knows they are being interrogated by government agent. NOT aplicable if informant. The warnings are not necessary when the detainee is being interrogated by an informant whom the defendant does not know is working for the police.
• Inapplicable at Grand Jury Hearing: The Miranda requirements do not apply to an uncharged witness testifying before a grand jury, even if the witness was compelled by subpoena to be there.
When are Miranda warnings required? b. CUSTODY requirement: Two-step process for derterming custody
Determining whether custody exists is a two-step process:
- The first step (sometimes called the “freedom of movement test”): Whether reasonable person would feel FREE TO terminate interrogation and LEAVE.
Requires the court to determine whether a reasonable person under the circum- stances would feel that they were free to terminate the interrogation and leave.
All of the circumstances surrounding the interrogation must be considered. - Whether environment presents same inherently coercive pressures as station house questioning.
Considers “whether the relevant environment presents the same inherently coercive pressures as the type of station house questioning at issue in Miranda.” Therefore, the more a setting resembles a traditional arrest (that is, the more constrained the suspect feels), the more likely the Court will consider it to be custody.
spontaneous statements by detainee.
Miranda warnings not required before spontaneous statements by detainee.
If statement was “Blurted out”
Means its a spontaneous statement, so its admissible.
When are Miranda warnings required? c. Interrogation Requirement
Any words or conduct by police that they should know would LIKELY ELICIT an INCRIMINATING response.
“Interrogation” includes any words or conduct by the police that they should know would likely elicit an incriminating response from the detainee.
Thus, Miranda warnings are not required before sponta- neous statements are made by a detainee.
Note that routine booking questions do NOT constitute interrogation.
Right to Waive Rights or Terminate Interrogation
After receiving Miranda warnings, a detainee has several options: do nothing, waive their Miranda rights, assert the right to remain silent, or assert the right to consult with an attorney.
