The issue of voluntariness is largely a factual determination that is within the discretion of the district court. Grey argues that the police used impermissible procedures to obtain his confession, rendering it involuntary and violative of both his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process of the law. Grey also contends that the police did not administer adequate Miranda warnings and should have recorded the warnings and obtained a written waiver. Grey claims that he did not voluntarily, intelligently, and knowingly waive his rights. Therefore, he contends that the District Court erred in admitting his statement into evidence.
Confessions are generally admissible.
To be admissible, however, a confession must be made freely, voluntarily, and without compulsion of any sort. The abhorrence of society to the use of involuntary confessions does not turn alone on their inherent untrustworthiness. The procurement of a confession must comport with the guarantee that an individual will not be compelled to incriminate himself or herself, and that the individual may not be convicted of a crime without due process of law. A defendant may waive the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights only if the waiver of those rights is made voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently. Voluntariness is the underlying test of admissibility of confessions.