U4. Confession Evidence Flashcards
What is the diffrence between an Exculpatory Statement and Inculpatory Statement?
- A Exculpatory Statement seeks to demonstrate the suspects innocence.
- An Inculpatory Statement (partly or entirely) demonstrates their guilt, and may inculplate a co-defendant.
Only an inculpatory statement may amount to a confession.
What are the 3 main considerations for Confession Evidence?
- It is a confesion
- It is admissiable
- Considerations of the challenging of Admissibility
What are the 3 grounds that must be met for an Inculpatory Statement to be a Confession
A confession includes any statement which is:
- Wholly of Partly adverse to the person who made it (Inculpatory Statement or Mixed Statement)
- Made to a person in authority or not (eg police, or friend)
- Made in words or otherwise (Oral, written, conduct)
What is a mixed statement?
A statement including both Inculpatory and exculpatory elements.
For example ‘I did hit them (inculpatory), but only in self-defence (exculpatory)
Mixed statements can be a confession as it has an Inculpatory statement.
Is a confession made outside of Court hearsay evidence?
No, s.76 of Pace 1984 (Police and Criminal Evidence Act) provides a seperate framework of confession evidence.
What is the key statute that must be remembered for SQE with regards to Confession Evidence?
What do the sections relate to?
Section 76 and Section 78 of PACE 1984
Police and Criminal Evidence Act
76 - Admisability and challenging admissablity
78 - EXCLUSION OF EVIDENCE PRINCIPLE AT LARGE
What are the 2 ways confession evidence can be admitted?
- General Admissibility
- A defendant admitting a confession of a co-defendant
What is general admissibility for confession evidence?
Admsiability will only have to be proved by the prosecution if the defence represent it is inadmissible under s.76, or the court requires proof of admissibility.
To prove general admissibility:
- It is relevant to the matter in issue
- Is not excluded by a statutory provision (Challenging Admissibility)
What is the ground that allows confession evidence to be admitted when one defenandt is admitting a confession of a Co defedent?
This is where one defendant seeks to rely on a confession of a co-defendant where such confession does not implicate themselves.
This is admissible, as long as it was not obtained by the excluded methods set out in s.76
Unlike General Admissibility, the party seeking to rely on the confession must first satisfy the court on the balance of probabilities that the confession is admissible.
How can the Confession Evidence be excluded, and so not admissible?
Confession evidence MUST BE excluded if the method used to obtain it was (S.76 PACE)
-by Oppression or
-Unreliably
or
If it has an adverse effect on the fairness of the proceedings, it MAY BE EXCLUDED AT THE COURS DISCRETION (Exclusion of evidence rules - s.78 PACE)
What is the name of the process that will take place if the adminsibility of a confession is challenged?
- If admissibility is challenged, a VOIR DIRE will take place to determine whether the confession will be introduced to the arbiter of fact as evidence.
Voir Dire takes place before magistrates or judge in the absence of a jury to determine whether the confession is to be admitted. Witnesses may be called, and the Court will decide to admitted the evidence or not.
When is a confession excludable from admission because it was obtained by oppresion?
If the confession WAS, OR MAY HAVE BEEN, obtained by oppression the Court shall not allow it, even if it thinks the confession is true or genuine
Oppression includes being tortured, or treated in an inhumane or degrading way, or the use or threat of violence.
When is a confession excludable from admission because it was obtained in an unreliable way?
Confessions obtained as a consequence of anything said or done which would render it unreliable shall be excluded.
Such instances include:
- Breaches of PACE Codes (ie failing to appoint an appropriate adult, or misrepresenting the strength of the police case)
- The suspects vulnerabilities (ie taking advantage of the suspects learning difficulty)
- The Suspects emotional state (ie demanding a confession when the suspect is clearly distressed for whatever reason)
The question is whether any confession obtained in these circumstances would be reliable, not just the confession in question.
When can a confession evidence be excluded under s.78 of Pace?
Under the Courts Powers to Exclude evidence, a confession can be excluded if it would have such an adverse effect on the fairness of proceedings that it ought not to be admitted.
