Opinion ID: 1873849
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: voluntariness of cox' confession

Text: Cox' first assignment of error is that the trial court erred in admitting the testimony of Fire Marshall White and Lt. Strauser about his confession for failure to prove its voluntariness, and for the State's failure to present all witnesses to the confession. The United States Supreme Court has pronounced the law regarding the admissibility of a defendant's waiver of his privilege against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694. Miranda requires proof that the waiver was voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently made. The trial judge makes that determination. Findings by a trial court that a confession was voluntary and that the confession is admissible will not be reversed by this Court as long as the trial court applies the correct principles of law and the finding is factually supported by the evidence. Davis v. State, 551 So.2d 165, 169 (Miss. 1989); Dedeaux v. State, 519 So.2d 886 (Miss. 1988). When the voluntariness of a confession is put into question, the defendant has a due process right to a reliable determination that the confession was in fact voluntarily given. Stokes v. State, 548 So.2d 118, 121 (Miss. 1989). The State bears the burden of proving all facts prerequisite to admissibility beyond a reasonable doubt. Davis, 551 So.2d at 169; Jones v. State, 461 So.2d 686, 697 (Miss. 1984); Neal v. State, 451 So.2d 743, 753 (Miss. 1984). This burden is met and a prima facie case made out by the testimony of an officer, or other person having knowledge of the facts, that the confession was voluntarily made without any threats, coercion, or offer of reward. The defendant must offer testimony that violence, threats of violence, or offers of reward induced the confession to rebut the State's prima facie case. If the defendant does this, then the State must offer all the officers who were present when the defendant was questioned and when the confession was signed, or show why they are not present. Tolbert v. State, 511 So.2d 1368, 1376 (Miss. 1987), quoting Agee v. State, 185 So.2d 671, 673 (Miss. 1966). This procedure properly occurs before trial in a suppression hearing conducted out of the presence of the jury. M.R.E. 104. In the case sub judice no pre-trial motion to suppress was filed. The trial court conducted a hearing in chambers during the trial, after Cox' in-court objection to the voluntariness of the confession. The trial court found that the State had established a proper predicate on the testimony of Fire Marshall White. The onus was then on Cox to provide other evidence or testimony on the voluntariness issue as rebuttal to the State's predicate. Cox did not rebut the State's predicate during argument on the motion. Without rebuttal from the defendant, the State does not need to produce all of the witnesses to the confession to establish voluntariness, the prima facie case is sufficient. See Hemingway v. State, 483 So.2d 1335, 1337 (Miss. 1986). Nevertheless, both officers who were present at the interview testified at trial after the court ruled their testimony regarding the confession admissible. This Court holds that the trial court did follow the correct legal standards to determine the admissibility of the contents of Cox' confession to the officers and that there was substantial evidence to support his finding of voluntariness. Having met this test this Court may not disturb the trial court's finding. Jones, 461 So.2d at 697. This assignment is without merit.