[Kenny_S]

Really! Drive us nuts. Hell darlin, Our wives beat ya to it! That is what wives do best eh?

[whitecree]

IMO, a coerced confession can be justifiable, particularly in this case. He was apprehended while attempting to collect the ransom. Isn't this enough to to show he is guilty? A confession after this - whether coerced or not - no longer matters. He admitted guilt by trying to collect.

The scumbag.


Oh, and in some of our cases, it is an awfully short drive.

[AlArchie]

Some poor cop made a bold move here.

There is a concept in precedent in US jurisprudence called "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree". Pretty basically it states that any evidence collected as the result of information gained from an illegal search or interrogation, will NOT be allowed to be entered or used against those defendants who were arrested because of those actions.

My guess would be the cop took some desperate action to save the life of the victim, knowing full well, he may have compromised the prosecutorial status of this case.

Jake put himself in hot water by picking up the ransom, and there is probably still a good case against him. His accomplice was probably safe from prosecution from evidence obtained from Jake's confession, but may have had some problems with independently developed evidence/statements/ informants.

You'll notice that I use "may", "probably", and "some poor cop". Poor cop, because if this was public knowledge, he would have been subject to both internal and criminal repercussions, even though he did so with good itentions. "may" and "probably" because a whole lot of final determination of guilt is dependent on the effective forensic debate skills the defense and prosecuting attornies use in their opening and closing arguments.

Al

[jillsy]

THE VERDICT BY JURY:
Jake's Confession IS admissible
THE APPEALS DECISION:
Jake's confession is admissible, because force was applied to discover the girl's location and not to extract a confession. The violence did not taint the confession. (Leon vs State of Florida, decided by a panel of Judges in Feb. 1982)

I didn't know the answer either and was so glad to read this! I was afraid it was going to be a typical case where the court worries more about the criminal's rights as opposed to the victims. Hope they both got LIFE! And while in prison, I hope those guys got it good too. If you listen closely....you can almost hear the banjo from "Deliverance"!

Any more requests or should we put HiHo out of his misery?!

[AlArchie]

Well, wrong again! Must've been one heck of a good argument put forth by that prosecutor! They should have elected him Attorney General! hehehe

Al

[Nancy-ID]

Originally Posted by jillsy

Ok, I've had a request to post a new courtroom case (glutton for punishment if you ask me!) So here goes....same rules apply.....

First note: "Before a confession can be admitted as evidence, the prosecution must show that it has been given freely and voluntarily, without fear of threat or violence."

That said, Jake kidnapped a young girl. He was arrested while trying to collect ransom. Jake's accomplice was apparently holding the young girl at gunpoint and the police were most anxious to discover her location. The police choked Jake, twisted his arm behind his back and physically abused him until he revealed the girl's whereabouts. After Jake told the police where the girl was, he gave them a complete confession. The prosecution seeks to put the confession in evidence but the defense argues that Jake's confession was involuntary because of the violence used by the police.

Is Jakes's confession admissable?

Sure it is if the Prosecution is kissing Judge butt during this trial. Do you really think the justice system is just and right? Its yet another game for the legal eagles, win however you can, put people behind bars for 5 years because they stole a loaf of bread to keep from starving but heck if the laywers for the Defense are good enough, let butchers go free. Shall I continue . . .nope.

[Nancy-ID]

Originally Posted by jillsy

This is great, I love driving you guys nuts - especially Hi-Ho!!!!

I'll give it til tomorrow, in case anyone else wants to jump in.

Add me right up there with Hi-Ho. If I wanted to go to law school I'd join another Yahoo group. Isn't that all ya need to get credentials?