NCJ Number
130297
Date Published
1991
Length
135 pages
Annotation
Traditional law enforcement techniques include the collection and preservation of out-of-court statements by suspects and, in some situations, the active elicitation or encouragement of confessions.
Abstract
When such statements are offered as evidence against a defendant, a distinction has sometimes been made between a confession and an admission. A confession is a statement admitting or acknowledging all facts necessary for conviction of the crime charged, while an admission is an acknowledgement of one or more facts that tend to establish guilt but not all elements of the crime. Legal doctrines related to the admissibility of confessions raise two different questions: (1) when should a confession be excluded as a means of discouraging or punishing inappropriate law enforcement behavior; and (2) when should a confession be excluded because it was given in circumstances that make its use unacceptable. To some extent, legal requirements associated with interrogations and confessions are concerned with confession reliability. Issues also arise as to whether confession law encourages police officers to elicit self-incriminating admissions from suspects and whether prosecutors should use such confessions. The first part of the analysis of interrogations and confessions develops the requirement that confessions be voluntary. The second part considers the dissatisfaction of the U.S. Supreme Court with the traditional voluntary doctrine governing confession admissibility, while the third part deals with suspects' sixth amendment right to counsel. Case materials are included.