Opinion ID: 1521791
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: the central role of the involuntary, inadmissible, written statement

Text: In returning its verdict of guilty to second-degree murder, the jury had to reject Ruffin's defenses of self-defense (which, if accepted, would have required acquittal) or alternatively adequate provocation caused by the news of his sister's rape (which, if accepted, would have reduced the conviction from second-degree murder to voluntary manslaughter). The majority affirms. It holds initially that the harmless error doctrine is applicable to the introduction of involuntary confessions, a notion I totally reject. Turning to the facts of this case, the majority goes on to find no reasonable possibility that the erroneous admission of the exculpatory written statement into evidence influenced the jury's rejection of Ruffin's theories of self-defense or adequate provocation and its verdict of guilty to second-degree murder. What follows is a summary of the central role the written statement played in Ruffin's trial.