Fall Legal Updates 2010

Written By: Reid
Dec 02, 2010
The Legal Update for Fall 2010 features 22 cases which address such issues as:
  • Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that the trial court should have allowed false confession expert Dr. Solomon Fulero to testify
  • Court rules that interrogation lasting more than 4 hours does not render confession inadmissible, and that exhorting the defendant to be truthful so that "his sins would be forgiven" was not coercive
  • Proper handling of a juvenile (13 year old) interrogation
  • Dr. Richard Leo's testimony of false confessions properly excluded
  • Court up holds Miranda waiver of a 12 year old
  • Connecticut Supreme Court declines to require electronic recording of interrogations
  • Military court rules that it was error to exclude the testimony of Dr. Richard Ofshe on the issue of coercive interrogation techniques
  • Telling a suspect that his cooperation would be to his benefit is not coercive, and lying to a suspect about the evidence against him does not render a confession inadmissible
  • Iowa Supreme court encourages video taping of custodial interrogations
  • Telling the suspect the nature of the charge - capital murder - and that he can help himself by telling the truth does not render the confession inadmissible
  • Is the statement "we are here to listen and then to help you out," an implied promise of leniency?
  • 10 hour interrogation of a suspect with a low intellect and lacking sleep should have been admissible
  • Court rejects defendant's claim that his confession should have been suppressed because he confessed in exchange for a promise of a family visit
  • Court limits the testimony of false confession expert Dr. Solomon Fulero
  • "[T]here is nothing inherently wrong with efforts to create a favorable climate for confession."
  • What constitutes custody for an 11 year old?
  • The value of videotaping an interrogation
  • The importance of considering the totality of circumstances in deciding the voluntariness of a confession
  • Court excludes the testimony of psychiatrist Dr. Robert Latimer
  • "What if I want my lawyer present first?" Does this statement constitute a request for an attorney?
  • Military court limits the testimony of Dr. Christian Meissner on the defendant's "heightened suggestibility and manipulation" as a result of his interrogation
  • Military court upholds the decision to exclude Dr. Richard Ofshe's testimony
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