California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Castro, B230675 (Cal. App. 2013):
(2009) 47 Cal.4th 145, 169.) When the interview is recorded, the facts surrounding the interview are undisputed, and we independently review the trial court's determination of voluntariness. (People v. McWhorter (2009) 47 Cal.4th 318, 346.)
"It long has been held that the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution makes inadmissible any involuntary statement obtained by a law enforcement officer from a criminal suspect by coercion. [Citations.] A statement is involuntary [citation] when, among other circumstances, it 'was "'extracted by any sort of threats . . . , [or] obtained by any direct or implied promises, however slight. . . .'"' [Citations.] Voluntariness does not turn on any one fact, no matter how apparently significant, but rather on the 'totality of [the] circumstances.' [Citations.]" (People v. Neal (2003) 31 Cal.4th 63, 79.)
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