Reader Ad Slot
Reader Ad Slot placeholder
If you would like to support SpookStack without paying out of pocket, please consider allowing advertising cookies. It helps cover hosting costs and keeps the archive free to browse. You can change this choice at any time.
Supreme Court — Part 26
Page 41
41 / 116
4
4
a
q 1
F: t
cy
‘
which she Hved.
‘there to use the washing
She hed one
and his otal confession, During
the intertm the police questioned
others believed involved.
Mallory was questioned by the
police for approdmately two
hours. ‘The jury considered his
confession free and voluntary. He
never disputed this. The victim
could not identife her assailant,
Because of the delay between
arrest and arraignment the ‘ol-
lowing morning, Mallory’a con-
fession was ruled inadmissible,
Without the confession, the Gov-
ernment lacked sufficient evidence
.to seek a conviction and Maiiory
was released.
The Mallory decision requires
the exclusion from evidence of
confessions made by persons un-
der arrest unless there was com-
pliance by the police with Rule
S(a) of the Federal Rules of
Criminal Procedure, which rer
quires arraignment of arrested
persons “without Unnecessary
delay.”
Prior | to the Mallory case the
1. khan Thdetriat am annfarelana
saw es] we 270d Wk Wd Dre
permitted the jury to give to con-
fessions such weight as ft felt was
merited, provided first the trial
judge made a determination that
there was evidence that such a
confession was voluntary.
The Basic Test
Voluntariness is the test for ad-
mission or rejection of confessions
in most of the States. Confessions
shown to be voluntary are trust-
worthy. Under the old rule delay
between arrest and arraignment
did not necessarily vitiate a con-
fession unless the delay was 50
protracted that it could be said
the delay produced the confession,
in which event the confession
might be regarded aa involun-
tary and inadmissible.
In four Instances the court sald
the basis of its ruling was an in-
terpretation of the intent of Con-
gress in authorizing Rule 5 (a) of
the Federal Rules of Criminal Pro-
cedure, It would therefore appear
the decision rests in an safrea
wherein Congress may legislate if
it feels that remedial legislation is
fustified and in the public in-
terest.
The most significant sentence
in the Mallory decision, to me, is
the sentence found at the bottom
of page 4 of the Court's opinion:
"The requirement of Rule 5 (a) is
part of the procedure devised by Con-
aress for safeguarding individual rights
without hampering effective and in-
telligent law enforcement.”
This aentence states the age-old
rights to be balanced are
@~ one ‘hand those of the ssetiaed,,_ ard J
oe ee
from‘
Balance le Vitel we es
Balance must be near
criminal violence by tha . TeiKC
iH
i
most effective. law enforcement ‘fesston evidence on which we'y
possible, forced to rely had been secured
If too Much emphasis is given contrary to meee os. Hie
fto the efficiency of law enforce- Mallory case. a
ment, the rights of the accused
may be impaired. Similarly, if we
‘eoncern oursalves only with safe-
guarding the defendant's rights,
we shal] encourage and allow to,
go unpunished the criminal abuse
nt law-abiding sitigens, Balance
Tnust be maintained if we'are to
have equal justice under law.
What rights are involved?
First, there are the rights of
persons accu of crime. It is
our duty an responsibility as
law enforcement officers to de
fever alert to Protect | the rights
of the accused.
Second, it is at least equally
important for us to consider the
J of the law-abiding citizens
who rely upon us for protection
from the criminal. Those who
live and work and visit in the
District of Columbia and who use
the streets during the day and
night have the right to effective
and intelligent police protection.
AIn = A anntand th aft Mannion
aNW OG Wout TODO Wie pL opuG
here in the District are entitled
to less effective galice protection
than persons living in New York,
Memphis or Cincinnatl.
Third, we should consider the
rights at the innocent person who
rae weit
{ has been accused of crime. As-
sume that such a person has been
arrested on probable cause but
that the police in their own minds.
question the identification by the
witness. Perhaps they are’ im-
pressed by the individual's protes-
tation of innocence. They should
haye an opportunity to check
further intd the case before stig-
matizing the individual with a
criminal charge and an arraign-
ment,
= Fourth, thare is tha
hat ee. wade UK A
[ situation. of the innocent victim,
Some of these innocent victims of
rapes and yoke robberies are
literally afraid te open the doors
of their homes or apartments to
& stranger. They are afrald to
walk the streets alone. We should
not forget these people in our
concern with the rights of the
accused, .
Legislation Is Needed
Experience under the .MaHory
rule indicates to me the degir-
ability of remedial legislation.
In most oases brought to our
attention, by the police there is
ample evidence beside confession
evidence. In some cases, however,
the Mallory rule appear: to
hamper effective and intelligent
law enforcement—murders, rapes,
and yoke robberies,
eerie .
wd éienst
a
Ee.
Trial judges difter na to
terpretatioc ha be given
lory decision, Some have giv
8
a1
- @ Liberal interpretation. They
have not regarded themselves a2
bound by what they consider dicta.
Others equally experienced have -
given the case a strict interpreta- -
_ tion and have rejected confessions
cases involved brutal yoke rob-
beries. Victims | haverdificulty ane
detstanding why such ¢fimes g¢6
unpunished. Mr. Justice Cardozo's
admonition should be recalled:
... Justice, though due the ac-
cused, is due the accuser aiso.”
Three Important Reversals
On appeal, three important mur-
der cases have been reversed be-
cause of the use of confessions
secured contrary to the interpre-
tation of the Mallory cage.
ew Watson, the ¢ confessed murderer
UL
tel, cannot be retried ‘tor this
murder. :
@ Carter, the confessed murderer
of a i4-year-old girl, cannot be
retried because of the restrictions
of this doctrine. His confessinn.
completely voluntary and trust
worthy, has never been repudiated
by him. Orally he confessed about
four hours after his arrest,
@ Starr was convicted of the sec«
ond degree murder of his wife.
There Was ampie eyewitness iesti-
mony, but among other defenses
Starr pleaded insanity. He had
given the police a statement in
which he denied stabbing his wife.
The statement seemed to be trust-
worthy evidence of his capacity
and understanding at the time of
the incident in question. The re-
»viewing court, however, reversed
|
the conviction on the authority of
the Mallory case because it felt
that the introduction of auch an.
exculpatory statement waa preji-
dictal to Starr's defense of in-
sanity.
A jfew days ago our Court of
Appeals denied a motion to
remand in the Milton Mallory
case, This defendant fs a nephew
of Andrew Mallory and had been
convicted of the charge of carnal
knowledge of an 8-year-old girl,
‘The defense moved to remand
the case for a new trial because
of the delay between arrest and
arraignment, The court’s denial of
this motion was predicated largely
upon speclal and unusual facts.
Milton Mallory was so intoxicated
. bi
- ore eee
Reveal the original PDF page, then click a word to highlight the OCR text.
Community corrections
No user corrections yet.
Comments
No comments on this document yet.
Bottom Reader Ad Slot
Bottom Reader Ad Slot placeholder
If you would like to support SpookStack without paying out of pocket, please consider allowing advertising cookies. It helps cover hosting costs and keeps the archive free to browse. You can change this choice at any time.
Continue Exploring
Agency Collection
Explore This Archive Cluster
Broad Topic Hub
Topic Hub
federal bureau
letter
Related subtopics
Subtopic
Subtopic
Subtopic
Subtopic
Subtopic