Court Opinion

ID: 9931974
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-09 18:32:02.921175+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:40:23.314279
License: Public Domain

I disagree with the majority's interpretation of the comments made by Officer Godwin and, thus, find that the appellant's confession was voluntary. "A promise is not the same thing as a prediction about future events beyond the parties' control or regarded as inevitable." Hawkins v. Lynaugh, 844 F.2d 1132,1139 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 900, 109 S.Ct. 247,102 L.Ed.2d 236 (1988). A police officer's promise, made during an interrogation, concerning a suspect's cooperation does not render the suspect's subsequent statement involuntary, "even when it is accompanied by a promise to recommend leniency or byspeculation that cooperation will have a positive effect."United States v. Guerrero, 847 F.2d 1363, 1366 (9th Cir. 1988) (emphasis supplied). A police officer is not the suspect's fiduciary. United States v. Rutledge, 900 F.2d 1127 (7th Cir. 1990), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 111 S.Ct. 203,112 L.Ed.2d 164 (1990). "The police are allowed to play on a suspect's ignorance, his fears, and his uncertainties; they are just not allowed to magnify those fears, uncertainties, and so forth to the point where rational decision becomes impossible." Id. at 1130.
The determination of the voluntariness of a confession rests within the discretion of the trial court. Hutchinson v. State,516 So.2d 889 (Ala.Crim.App.), cert. denied, 516 So.2d 889
(Ala. 1987). The trial court need only be convinced that the confession was voluntary by a preponderance of the evidence.Manigan v. State, 402 So.2d 1063 (Ala.Crim.App. 1981). This court should not reverse the trial court's determination unless it is contrary to the great weight of the evidence. Hammins v.State, 439 So.2d 809 (Ala.Crim.App. 1983). A consideration of the circumstances surrounding the confession, including the appellant's age and educational level, leads me to the conclusion that the appellant's confession was the product of a rational and voluntary decision.
Based on the foregoing, I agree with the trial judge and dissent from the majority's suppression of the appellant's confession. *Page 29