Opinion ID: 313376
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to submit issue of voluntariness to the jury.

Text: 23 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3501(a), provides in part: If the trial judge determines that the confession was voluntarily made it shall be admitted in evidence and the trial judge shall permit the jury to hear relevant evidence on the issue of voluntariness and shall instruct the jury to give such weight to the confession as the jury feels it deserves under all the circumstances. 24 At the trial, the FBI agent related what had occurred at the time the confession was signed by appellant. The agent was not cross-examined. Appellant's version of what was said and done, which had been relied upon in the motion to suppress, was never put before the jury. The only objection to the admission of the confession was defense counsel's statement, made out of the presence of the jury. He said: 25    we wish to continue our objection to testimony that we believe the agent will testify to, which is the statement made by the defendant to the agents. 26 We base this on the same grounds as in the previous motion.    27 One additional statement: if the government continues to use this, refer to the statements made by the defendant while he was in custody without benefit of counsel, the defense wishes to lodge a continuing objection to this, and we will not stand up and object each individual time so as to tie up the Court. 28 The objection was overruled. 29 There was no effort made to get before the jury anything to put in issue the voluntariness of the confession. The witness who identified appellant as one of the robbers was not cross-examined. Defendant did not testify, and proofs were closed with defense counsel's statement that [T]he defendant will not produce any witnesses or put on a defense. Thus, no issue as to the voluntariness of the confession was made. The relevant language of Section 3501(a) requires that the trial judge, 30 [S]hall permit the jury to hear relevant evidence on the issue of voluntariness and shall instruct the jury to give such weight to the confession as the jury feels it deserves under all the circumstances. 31 There having been no challenge, before the jury, as to the confession's voluntariness, we do not consider that the trial judge was required to have the jurors consider an issue upon which there was no evidence before them. The defense proffered no request for an instruction relevant to voluntarinesss of the confession; neither, when invited to do so, did defense counsel criticize the Court's charge for not including such an instruction. The circumstances here do not urge us to find error in the trial judge's instructions. 32 The cause is remanded to the District Court for further proceedings as above ordered.