Court Opinion

ID: 9863220
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-25 03:13:39.853455+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:47:55.905841
License: Public Domain

*823TEAGUE, Judge,
dissenting.
When a police officer induces an accused to give a written or oral confession by virtue of a misstatement of the law concerning the admissibility of the confession, the prosecution has got problems in attempting to either get the confession admitted into evidence or, if is admitted into evidence, to convince an appellate court to sustain the trial court’s action.
In this instance, the State concedes that the police officer who took appellant’s confession misstated the law to appellant with regard to the admissibility of an oral statement that appellant had made to him. The record clearly reflects that prior to taking appellant’s written confession, the officer who took the confession told appellant that “it would make no difference whatsoever” whether appellant’s statement was reduced to writing or was made orally.
As a matter of law, however, because no evidence was discovered by reason of appellant’s oral statement, the only way appellant's oral statement could become admissible evidence against him was if the oral statement was reduced to writing and signed by the appellant. Thus, in order to induce appellant to give the written confession, the officer who took appellant’s written confession lied to appellant, either intentionally or through ignorance. It is now time for the State to pay the piper for the officer’s erroneous advice.
However, the majority declines to penalize the State; instead, it erroneously, without any basis therefor, awards the prosecution for the officer’s wrongful actions by upholding the admission into evidence of the appellant’s written confession. This it should not do because this encourages the law enforcer to become the law breaker.
I, therefore, am compelled to respectfully dissent to the majority upholding the admission into evidence of appellant’s written confession.
ONION, P.J., joins.