On September 13, 2013, the Indiana Supreme Court accepted transfer in the case of Bond vs. State. This case will deal with the issue of when a confession to the police can be considered “voluntary”. Under current Indiana law, a confession is only considered “involuntary” if it is the result of direct physical force; direct threats against the suspect or his loved ones; direct promises of a specific outcome (such as leniency); or a misstatement of the law. Outside of those rules, the police can lie, distort facts, and make up “evidence” that they can use for the purposes of getting a suspect to confess. In Bond, the police office made several unsavory remarks towards the suspect (a black man), and indicated that he wouldn’t receive a fair trial in Crown Point because the jury would be made of white people, Hispanics, and “other people that aren’t from Gary, from your part of the hood”. Because this type of tactic didn’t directly fall into one of the above-referenced categories, the trial court and the Court of Appeals determined that the confession was freely given. While it’s never easy to predict what a supreme court will do when it agrees to hear a case, it’s worth noting that the Indiana Supreme Court has held in the past that it does “not condone . . . deceptive police conduct”. It may be that for the first time in many years our Supreme Court will examine the standards under which interrogations will be conducted. You can read the Court of Appeal’s Bond decision, here: in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/05311301mgr.pdf
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 19:05:42 +0000
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