Opinion ID: 1312419
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: additional irregularities

Text: Steven also attacks the validity of the confession based upon his allegation that the confession was not knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently made and did not comply with the requirements of West Virginia Code § 49-5-2(1) (1996). While we invalidate the confession based upon our prompt presentment discussion above, we also address several unorthodox facets of Steven's confession to murder. In Sugg, we emphasized that a confession of a minor must be scrutinized under totality of circumstances to determine whether statement was voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently made. 193 W.Va. at 397, 456 S.E.2d at 478. In State v. Laws, 162 W.Va. 359, 251 S.E.2d 769 (1978), we recognized numerous factors to be evaluating in determining the voluntariness of a juvenile confession. Id. at 363, 251 S.E.2d at 772. These factors include: 1) age of the accused; 2) education of the accused; 3) knowledge of the accused as to both the substance of the charge, if any has been filed, and the nature of his rights to consult with an attorney and remain silent; 4) whether the accused is held incommunicado or allowed to consult with relatives, friends or an attorney; 5) whether the accused was interrogated before or after formal charges had been filed; 6) methods used in interrogation; 7) length of interrogations; 8) whether vel non the accused refused to voluntarily give statements on prior occasions; and 9) whether the accused has repudiated an extra judicial statement at a later date. Id. (quoting West v. United States, 399 F.2d 467, 469 (5th Cir.1968), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 1102, 89 S.Ct. 903, 21 L.Ed.2d 795 (1969)). Applying those factors to the present case, we have a fourteen-year-old individual whose prior experiences had allegedly included instances of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse by the decedent, Ms. Jenkins. [11] Dr. Cantone reported that Steven's emotional development was approximately that of a child of eleven or twelve. Steven had no experience with legal charges or juvenile proceedings, and his mental capacity, according to the IQ testing by Dr. Cantone, was below average. Subsequent to his confession, he repudiated his statements, explaining that he had confessed based upon Ms. Whetzel's attempts to convince him to protect Ms. Milburn. A.