Opinion ID: 1533871
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Suppression Judge Heard Content of the Confession

Text: Appellant contends, for the first time on appeal, that it was error for the suppression court to allow itself to hear the content of the confession because he asserts that the content was irrelevant to the determination of whether the statement was voluntary. Brief of Appellant at 17. Appellant failed to object to the admission of the content of his confession during the suppression hearing and fails to provide any legal authority to support his argument that the content of the statement should have been excluded. [19] Additionally, this was not the guilt or penalty phase of the trial. The content of the confession was introduced during the suppression hearing. The jury was not present. The role of the court was to determine whether the statement was voluntary. Appellant fails to explain why the content of the statement would prevent a judge from evaluating whether the statement was voluntary. Cf. Commonwealth v. Corbin, 447 Pa. 463, 291 A.2d 307, 310 (1972) (a defendant suffers no prejudice when the same judge presides during the suppression hearing and the trial if the confession was deemed voluntary because the confession was admissible at trial to prove guilt). Therefore, even if Appellant had objected (which he did not) and the statement had not been used on cross-examination (which he did), we do not believe that Appellant was prejudiced by the admission of the statement at the suppression hearing. [20]