NCJ Number
102983
Date Published
1985
Length
139 pages
Annotation
Written for persons interested in a working knowledge of the Pennsylvania law of interrogation and confessions, this book discusses the voluntariness test, Miranda rights, the right to counsel prior to police interrogation, special rules, the scope of 'taint' problems, and procedure.
Abstract
The discussion covers Pennsylvania legislation through December 1983 and case law through 104 S. Ct. 2626, 81 L. Ed. 2d 550; 478 A. 2d 170. In delineating Pennsylvania law, the discussion maintains a proper balance between consideration of Federal and Pennsylvania cases. Among the issues addressed in the voluntariness test for confessions are the totality of circumstances test, force or the threat of it prior to and during interrogation, duration of questioning, trickery, the use of truth serum, and deception in the use of polygraph results. The review of Miranda rights addresses relevant issues pertaining to custody and interrogation, volunteered statements, warnings, and waivers. The discussion of the right to counsel considers the time when the right attaches, breach of the agreement not to question a suspect, waiver of the right, and deliberate elicitation. The chapter on special rules covers those rules developed to deal with the bringing of an arrestee before a magistrate without unnecessary delay, a juvenile defendant's waiver of constitutional rights, and the admissibility standard for a defendant's statement or silence introduced to impeach defendant credibility. Subject index.