Opinion ID: 2333091
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: The confession of Alfred Stokes.

Text: Alfred Stokes was arrested late in the evening of February 21, 1954, while he was sitting in the kitchen of his aunt's house in Farmville, Virginia. The arrest was made by Detectives Spies and Reiss in company with Farmville police officials. He was taken to the local station house, where he was questioned briefly, and then confined in a cell. The following morning, February 22, he was brought before a local magistrate, where he waived extradition and consented to return to New Jersey on the basis of the New Jersey warrant which the police officers had brought with them. Shortly after noon that day, as Detective Spies was walking with Alfred toward the police car which was to return him to New Jersey, Alfred wrenched himself from the grasp of Detective Spies, and although handcuffed, ran off. Spies yelled at him to stop and fired a warning shot in the air. Alfred, however, paid no heed to the warning, and Spies and the local police chief, who was also present, fired at him, one bullet finding its mark and wounding Alfred in the hip. He was taken to a local hospital, examined, X-rayed, given an anti-tetanus injection, and his wound was dressed. The doctor in charge advised that although the bullet was still in Alfred's hip, it would be all right to transport him back to New Jersey in that condition. He gave Detective Spies a slip authorizing Alfred's discharge from the hospital. From Farmville Spies and Reiss took Alfred by car to National Airport at Alexandria, Virginia, where they arrived at about 5 P.M. and were met by Chief Lombardi, Detective Martel and Sergeant Kitchell. While in the car he was advised Harry and Albert had already confessed, and he was questioned by Lombardi as to his participation in the crime. In response to his questions, Alfred gave Lombardi a statement which eventually became part of his confession offered at the trial. The party then left National Airport and journeyed by automobile to Union Township, arriving there at about 10:45 that evening. Alfred was taken to the detectives' room, and his confession was completed at about 11:30 P.M. Immediately thereafter, Dr. Stephen Repta examined him and applied a new dressing to the wound. In the meanwhile, the confession was typed in final form, and Alfred signed it at about 1 A.M. in the morning of February 23, in the presence of representatives from various newspapers. He was then taken to a cell and the following morning accompanied police officers to the Tuscan Dairy, where he reenacted the crime. Afterward, Stokes was returned to police headquarters and was later arraigned before the local magistrate. At about 5 P.M. he was admitted to a hospital in Elizabeth, where he was operated upon and the bullet was removed the next day. On February 25 he was discharged from the hospital and returned to the Union County Jail, his condition upon discharge being listed as good. According to Alfred, Detective Spies punched and slapped him when he was first taken into custody in Farmville. His attempt to escape from custody in Farmville on the following day was the result of threats, taunts and goading by Spies and Reiss and the local police officers and fear of them. He further testified throughout the trip by automobile to New Jersey he was in constant pain from the bullet wound, which bled profusely, and was denied rest, food and medical attention. He claimed while in the automobile at National Airport Chief Lombardi told him he would receive no treatment for the wound until he had executed a confession. This, according to Alfred, was the basis upon which he submitted to the demands of the police. The defendant called Dr. Ward, the radiologist at the Elizabeth hospital who had X-rayed him prior to the operation for the removal of the bullet, as a witness in his behalf. Dr. Ward testified the bullet had fractured the head of the iliac and stated that anyone suffering from a fractured bone would experience pain. Dr. Cox, who performed the operation, was also called by Alfred. However, he testified when he examined Alfred on his admittance to the hospital he had asked him whether he had had much pain, to which Alfred replied: No. It is sore. On cross-examination, he said he had found Alfred to be in excellent general physical condition when he examined him. Detective Spies and Reiss took the stand and denied having beaten or taunted or goaded Alfred in any way while he was in their custody in Farmville. They testified that during the return trip they, as well as Chief Lombardi, asked Alfred on several occasions whether he was comfortable and he replied he was, except his leg hurt him if he sat in one position. They said he never at any time complained to them of being in pain, and that on at least two occasions they stopped and procured food for him. Moreover, they said there was no indication that Alfred was bleeding at any time. Chief Lombardi also testified and emphatically denied saying to Alfred that he must confess first in order to get medical attention. Lombardi was in the automobile during the portion of the trip from the airport to New Jersey and said on one or two occasions he asked Alfred whether he was comfortable and Alfred replied he was. Lombardi's testimony was corroborated by Detective Martel, who was present in the automobile at the National Airport and who took down Alfred's statement in shorthand. Dr. Repta testified he had examined Alfred after his arrival at the Union Township Police Station and found him to be in excellent physical condition and not complaining of any pain from the wound. He examined him again the following morning and on that occasion advised the police officers it would be all right to take Alfred out to the Tuscan Dairy to reenact the crime prior to removing him to a hospital for surgery. The hospital records disclose Alfred's general condition was good at the time of his admission. Defendant's counsel concedes the general rule to be that a confession is not rendered involuntary merely because the defendant was suffering from severe physical injuries at the time he made it. See State v. Dolan, 86 N.J.L. 192 ( E. & A. 1914); State v. Grillo, 11 N.J. 173, 180 (1952). It is the mental, and not the physical, condition and comprehension of the defendant when the confession is given which controls. But it is said the confession was obtained here as a result of the `suction process,' and not the due process guaranteed under our Constitution. It is asserted it was not voluntary and hence inadmissible in evidence. If all these things were true, prejudicial error would have been committed in admitting what would under these facts have been classified as a spurious document. However, counsel's contention rests upon no firmer ground than the testimony of the defendant  testimony which was contradicted by all the police officers plus every physician who examined him and by other corroborating evidence, including photographs produced by the State which belied Stokes' contention that his wound bled profusely during the trip to New Jersey. It was for the trial court initially, and the jury ultimately, to determine whether the defendant's version of the circumstances which surrounded his confession had any verity, and the record does not justify us in coming to an opposite conclusion. If any doubt existed as to the fairness of the presentation of this phase of the case to the jury, it would have been dispelled by the court's charge to the jury in reference to these confessions in which it said, amongst other things: The fact that this court found these alleged written confessions to be admissible in evidence is no indication whatever by this court as to the guilt or innocence of the defendants who are said to have made them.    The credibility, the believability, and the weight to be given these alleged confessions, like all other evidence after it has been admitted, is for the jury alone. It is, therefore, within your province and for you to decide what weight if any is to be given to these confessions and as to this you are the sole judges. In determining their value and weight, the jury is not precluded from considering the evidence touching the voluntary character of the confessions or the involuntary character of them. On the contrary, the jury is under a duty to consider all the evidence in the case, including that touching the voluntary or involuntary character of these alleged confessions and the occurrences and circumstances under which it is testified they had been given. The State presents the novel thought that by virtue of the motion which was granted permitting the defendants the right to examine their confessions pursuant to R.R. 3:5-11 and their subsequent examination, the confessions automatically became admissible in evidence. There is no unqualified right to inspect a confession, and the privilege to do so is only granted in the sound discretion of the trial judge upon application. State v. Tune, 13 N.J. 203 (1953). The adoption of the rule advocated by the State would relieve it of the burden of proving the confession was voluntary and truthful and would force upon the defendant in every criminal case the necessity for electing between the advantages to be gained from an inspection of his confession or an attack upon its admissibility. It would eradicate the advancement we thought we had made, as practically no one would seek an inspection of a confession if this interpretation were adopted. The discovery and inspection procedure provided for by R.R. 3:5-11 would be rendered meaningless. The suggestion has no merit and we reject it without reservation.