The following excerpt is from People v. Barbato , 172 N.E. 458, 254 N.Y. 170 (N.Y. 1930):
We are not gifted with the power to discern truth with mathematical certitude. Defendant may have exaggerated the severity of the attacks upon him. He may have imposed a story upon us which is a creation of his imagination. Who can say? We must weigh the evidence and not speculate on what may have happened. His counsel repudiated his evidence that the district attorney instructed the police officers to take him out and beat him, even before the district attorney denied it. To that extent we must treat him as a fabricator of false evidence. Yet on the weight of evidence the physical facts corroborate defendant's statement that injuries were inflicted by the police officers to procure a confession. The trial judge should have excluded the confessions. People v. Weiner, supra.
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.