Opinion ID: 1324958
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: admissibility of tainted confessions

Text: As a general rule, the standard for issuance of the writ of prohibition is set forth in W.Va. Code § 53-1-1. That section states that prohibition shall lie in all cases of usurpation and abuse of power, when the inferior court has not jurisdiction of the subject matter in controversy, or, having such jurisdiction exceeds its legitimate powers. Traditionally, the writ of prohibition speaks purely to jurisdictional matters. It was not designed to correct errors which are correctable upon appeal. State v. Muntzing, 146 W.Va. 878, 122 S.E.2d 851 (1961); Lake O'Woods Club v. Wilhelm, 126 W.Va. 447, 28 S.E.2d 915 (1944). Indeed, this Court has specifically stated that the writ does not lie to correct mere errors and that it cannot serve as a substitute for appeal, writ of error or certiorari. Handley v. Cook, W.Va., 252 S.E.2d 147 (1979); State ex rel. Casey v. Wood, 156 W.Va. 329, 193 S.E.2d 143 (1972); see also, City of Huntington v. Lombardo, 149 W.Va. 671, 143 S.E.2d 535 (1965). Because of the nature of the writ, there has been a general reluctance to allow its use in interlocutory matters unless there was exhibited some obvious jurisdictional defect or purely legal error on the part of the trial court. In the absence of jurisdictional defect, the administration of justice is not well served by challenges to discretionary rulings of an interlocutory nature. These matters are best saved for appeal and, as a general rule, do not present a proper case for issuance of the writ. Woodall v. Laurita, 156 W.Va. 707, 195 S.E.2d 717 (1973); see also, State v. Milam, W.Va., 260 S.E.2d 295 (1979); State ex rel. Peacher v. Sencindiver, W.Va., 233 S.E.2d 425 (1977). Where prohibition is sought to restrain a trial court from the abuse of its legitimate powers, rather than to challenge its jurisdiction, the appellate court will review each case or its own particular facts to determine whether a remedy by appeal is both available and adequate, and only if the appellate court determines that the abuse of powers is so flagrant and violative of petitioner's rights as to make a remedy by appeal inadequate, will a writ of prohibition issue. Syl. pt. 2, Woodall v. Laurita, 156 W.Va. 707, 195 S.E.2d 717 (1973). Viewed against this backdrop, it is clear that a writ of prohibition will not lie to bar trial based upon Judge Narick's ruling on the admissibility of confessions elicited from the petitioner. While Judge Narick's ruling on the matter may or may not be correct, it does not deprive his court of jurisdiction. Beyond that, however, the ruling does not really present a legal issue, but a factual one. In determining the admissibility of a confession, the ultimate test remains that which has been the only clearly established test in Anglo-American courts for two hundred years: the test of voluntariness. Is the confession the product of an essentially free and unconstrained choice by its maker? If it is, if he has willed to confess, it may be used against him. If it is not, if his will has been overborne and his capacity for self-determination critically impaired, the use of his confession offends due process. Culombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568, 81 S.Ct. 1860, 6 L.Ed.2d 1037 (1961). See also, Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966) (institution of procedural safeguards to insure voluntariness); cf. Mincey v. Arizona, 437 U.S. 385, 98 S.Ct. 2408, 57 L.Ed.2d 290 (1978) (requirement of voluntariness extended to use of admissions obtained in violation of Miranda for impeachment purposes). This Court has adopted, as a guideline, a presumption that successive confessions are the product of the initial confession. State v. Williams, supra , citing Bunting v. Commonwealth, 208 Va. 309, 157 S.E.2d 204 (1967). However, this presumption is a rebuttable one. It has never been the law that making a confession under circumstances which preclude its use perpetually disables the confessor from making a usable one after those conditions have been removed. United States v. Ceccolini, 435 U.S. 268, 98 S.Ct. 1054, 55 L.Ed.2d 268 (1978); United States v. Bayer, 331 U.S. 532, 67 S.Ct. 1394, 91 L.Ed. 1654 (1947). While it is true that a confession induced by an unlawful search and seizure is inadmissible, Fahy v. Connecticut, 375 U.S. 85, 84 S.Ct. 229, 11 L.Ed.2d 171 (1963), it is also true that where police obtain a subsequent confession (or confessions) after obtaining one which is inadmissible there must be an independent evaluation of whether the coercive actions which produced the first continued to produce the later confession. United States v. Bayer, supra . See also, Darwin v. Connecticut, 391 U.S. 346, 88 S.Ct. 1488, 20 L.Ed.2d 630 (1968); Leyra v. Denno, 347 U.S. 556, 74 S.Ct. 716, 98 L.Ed. 948 (1954); Lyons v. Oklahoma, 322 U.S. 596, 64 S.Ct. 1208, 88 L.Ed. 1481 (1944). In the first Williams opinion, we stated that: There was no evidence demonstrating a break in the causative link running between the confessions in this case. The State did not meet its burden, and we must presume each confession was the product of the preceding illegalities. W.Va., 249 S.E.2d 764. While all the confessions were presumed to be tainted, it was impossible to formally rule on the admissibility of any except the initial one. Since the initial confession was admitted into evidence in the first trial, there was no showing concerning the independence of the subsequent confessions. In the first trial, we did not see a record developed concerning the independent admissibility of the confessions here at issue. This will be one of the issues in the new trial. Since the first confession has been held to be involuntary, it can no longer be used for any purpose. The State is faced with the resulting presumption that all subsequent confessions are inadmissible. Therefore, the prosecution will be faced with the task of showing by clear and substantial proof that the connection between the lawless conduct of the police and the discovery of the challenged evidence has `become so attenuated as to dissipate the taint'. Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963); Nardone v. United States, 308 U.S. 338, 60 S.Ct. 266, 84 L.Ed. 307 (1939). In the absence of such a showing, the confessions cannot be used. Since the issue will have to be resolved by developing the factual circumstances surrounding each confession; the respondent's ruling on the issue is not subject to attack by a writ of prohibition. In the words of my brother, Neely, in the recent case of Hinkle v. Black, W.Va., 262 S.E.2d 744, 749 (1979): In most of the cases where a rule has been issued the question has been exclusively legal and not a mixed question of fact and law. This court is not engineered to be as efficient a finder of fact as a trial court because of the cumbersome procedures for taking depositions. When, however, there is a clear legal question it is often efficient to come in prohibition. . . . However, where the proper resolution of the legal question first depends upon a proper finding of disputed facts, then the efficiency of prohibition disappears because of mechanical problems in fact finding inherent in multimember courts. In that event, surely, the relative adequacy of a remedy by appeal becomes correspondingly enhanced. The reasoning set forth in the Hinkle case would seem most appropriate in a case such as this, where we deal with a preliminary ruling on a question of admissibility. We therefore hold that in the absence of compelling evidence of irremediable prejudice, a writ of prohibition will not lie to bar trial based upon the judge's factual ruling on such preliminary matters.