Opinion ID: 2195033
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Mischaracterizations by interrogators

Text: I agree with the conclusion reached by the majority that investigators mischaracterized information they had from Tyson and Williams when they said they're putting you in the middle of some stuff and they're hooking you into this stuff. But the investigators' statements and suggestive questions were general, they did not suggest precisely how Burrell was said to have been involved, and any mischaracterization was slight. We have said that investigators may use mischaracterizations without rendering the resulting statements involuntary unless the deceit is the kind that would make an innocent person confess. Jones, 566 N.W.2d at 326. The statements by the investigators were part of the preliminary explanation about why Burrell had been brought in for interrogation. The videotape reveals that they were made in a cordial manner, were not coercive and were not designed to overcome Burrell's will. In fact, the statements did not overcome Burrell's will because he did not confess. Accordingly, I would not give the investigators' mischaracterizations any significant weight in the analysis of the totality of the circumstances.