Does the reasonable doubt test apply to determine whether a confession was voluntary?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. Houston, 230 Cal.Rptr. 141, 42 Cal.3d 595, 724 P.2d 1166 (Cal. 1986):

The trial court employed the reasonable-doubt standard to determine whether defendant had completed his inculpatory statement before the police embarked on the conduct here condemned. We conclude it did so correctly. Because of the importance of ensuring that coerced confessions are not admitted, and because of the tendency, under a preponderance-of-evidence standard, to accept the authorities' self-serving account of events over the suspect's, we have ruled that the reasonable doubt standard applies to the determination whether a confession was voluntary. (People v. Jimenez (1978) 21 Cal.3d 595, 602-608, 147 Cal.Rptr. 172, 580 P.2d 672; see also People v. Murtishaw (1981) 29 Cal.3d 733, 753, 175 Cal.Rptr. 738, 631 P.2d 446, cert. den. (1982) 455 U.S. 922, 102 S.Ct. 1280, 71 L.Ed.2d 464.) We think similar principles bear on a finding whether a confession

Page 152

Other Questions


What is the test for determining whether a reasonable trier of fact could have found defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? (California, United States of America)
What is the test for determining whether a reasonable trier of fact could have found defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? (California, United States of America)
Does the absence of lingering doubt from a recitation of evidence the defense offered in an attempt to raise reasonable doubt raise a reasonable doubt? (California, United States of America)
Does section 669 of the California Criminal Code apply to determine whether a determinate or determinate sentence should run concurrently with an indeterminate sentence? (California, United States of America)
What is the standard for determining whether a reasonable trier of fact could have found the essential elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt? (California, United States of America)
Does the absence of an instruction defining reasonable doubt result in a jury failing to apply the same reasonable doubt test? (California, United States of America)
What is the test for determining whether a reasonable trier of fact could have found defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? (California, United States of America)
When will this court apply the Jimenez beyond a reasonable doubt standard to test the voluntariness of a confession? (California, United States of America)
What is the test for determining whether a defendant has a right to a jury determination based upon proof beyond a reasonable doubt? (California, United States of America)
What is the test for determining whether a reasonable trier of fact could have found a defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? (California, United States of America)
X



Alexi white


"The most advanced legal research software ever built."

Trusted by top litigators from across North America.