Opinion ID: 2402568
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Concerning the Extrajudicial Confessions

Text: While two somewhat unusual factors concerning the admissibility of confessions are presented by these cases and must be considered, the ultimate test of admissibility, as it has always been, is still whether or not the confessions were freely and voluntarily made. Abbott v. State, 231 Md. 462, 190 A.2d 797 (1963); Bryant v. State, 229 Md. 531, 185 A.2d 190 (1962); Culombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568 (1961). In addition to the standard factors as to whether the confessions were the product of force or of a promise, threat or inducement, there are inquiries here as to whether a confession made after an illegal arrest should be excluded as evidence regardless of its voluntary character, and as to whether the presence of unlawfully seized evidence when a confession is taken would preclude its use as evidence. The first question is not a new one in this Court. Prescoe v. State, 231 Md. 486, 191 A.2d 226 (1963) as well as Peal v. State, 232 Md. 329, 193 A.2d 53 (1963) and Stewart v. State, 235 Md. 210, 201 A.2d 18 (1964), held that an illegal arrest does not in itself render a subsequent confession involuntary. Most recently, in Mefford and Blackburn v. State, 235 Md. 497, 511, 201 A.2d 824, 831 (1964), it was said that Wong Sun v. United State, 371 U.S. 471 (1963) was not intended to, and does not, control prosecutions in State courts and that the rule of the Supreme Court    and that of Maryland remains that the critical test of admissibility of a confession is whether, under all circumstances, it was, in actuality, voluntary. The cases in other jurisdictions, such as State v. Traub, 196 A.2d 755 (Conn. 1963), cert.den. 377 U.S. 960 (1964) and State v. Jackson, 203 A.2d 1 (N.J. 1964), are to the same effect. The second question, as to what effect confrontation with illegally seized evidence has on the admissibility of a confession is a novel one in this Court, but, like the first, the question is one of fact and not a matter of law. In Fahy v. Connecticut, 375 U.S. 85 (1963), where illegally obtained evidence was held to be prejudicial, the Supreme Court found that the accused should have had an opportunity to show that his admissions were induced by being confronted with illegally obtained evidence. Fahy, does not, however, compel the exclusion of a confession unless it appears that the accused was shown illegally seized evidence and that such confrontation did in fact induce the confession. Voluntariness, therefore, is still the crucial test for determining the admissibility of a confession. Lastly, the credibility of witnesses is primarily for the trial judge to determine. And, where the trial judge believes that a confession was freely and voluntarily made, his finding will not be disturbed unless there was a clear abuse of discretion. Abbott v. State, supra .