Confession at gunpoint: The chain of events affecting admissibility.
Written By:
Reid
Apr 01, 2012
By Gino Arcaro M.Ed., B.Sc.
I. Reality
The world of frontline policing will not always guarantee peaceful conditions to question a suspect. During life-and-death emergencies, the police will need to get information at lightning-speed. In those cases, information obtained in the blink of an eye can be the difference between saving a life or losing it.
In R. v. Hatch (2012), during a lengthy complex investigation, the accused made a total of 7 statements, the first at police gun-point, upon police arrival at an emergency call that turned out to be a homicide investigation. The first statement was ruled involuntary because a gun was pointed at the suspect while he answered. How does a gun-induced initial statement affect the rest of the statements?
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I. Reality
The world of frontline policing will not always guarantee peaceful conditions to question a suspect. During life-and-death emergencies, the police will need to get information at lightning-speed. In those cases, information obtained in the blink of an eye can be the difference between saving a life or losing it.
In R. v. Hatch (2012), during a lengthy complex investigation, the accused made a total of 7 statements, the first at police gun-point, upon police arrival at an emergency call that turned out to be a homicide investigation. The first statement was ruled involuntary because a gun was pointed at the suspect while he answered. How does a gun-induced initial statement affect the rest of the statements?