Admissibility in Miranda Case

The main issues involved in this case whether there should be other standards for juveniles compared to those of adults regarding when the Miranda rights should be read. In the case Yarborough v. Alvarado, Alvarado confessed to participating in a crime during the questioning that was conducted for two hours at a police station. He had been brought to the station by his parents as a result of a request from the police (Gosselin and Denise, 2007). His parents were not allowed to attend the interview. Alvarado was not informed on his rights.

The appeals court decided to overturn the conviction because of the age of Alvarado. This was based on the argument that he was too young to understand that he had the option of ending the interview and leaving at any time. It said that because of this factor, the interview was ‘custodial interview’ and there was a need for Alvarado needed to know his rights.

The Supreme Court said that age was not a determining factor. It said that there was no need for some different kind of standard for juveniles. It was important for Alvarado to realize that he was free to stop the interview and walk away any time. Basing on this, the confession was termed as admissible.

This is similar to what happened on September 25, 2012. This is when a New Jersey Supreme Court addressed am issue whether a boy of 13 years confessed to the juvenile crime of aggravated sexual assault. This happened outside the presence of his father; a factor that was admissible in the case of State In the Interest of A.W (Maynard & Summer, 2012). the caught rendered the confession admissible since the father voluntarily and willingly left the room while the interrogation and question was still in progress. This comported with the standards of fundamental fairness and due process.

The court of New Jersey based their arguments on some specific guidelines in a bid to determine whether the confession that had been made by the juvenile had been voluntary of not. In State v. Presha, 163 N.J. 304 (2000) the following was set by the court when trying to find the admissibility of a juvenile confession (MaryAnn, 2012).

1.      The age of the suspect, the intelligence level as well as education level

2.      The length of detention

3.      The previous encounter of the suspect with the law

4.      Was some kind of physical punishment of mental exhaustion had been involved

5.      Whether the questioning had occurred over a prolonged period of time, or if it was repeated.

6.      Whether advice as to constitutional rights had been administered (were the Miranda warnings administered?)

The law presumes that confessions that are made by juveniles whose age is below the age of 14 are admissible, and if the parent is absent or is unwilling to be available. In the case of A.W., the juvenile, age 13, made a request to leave. He voluntarily left the room. While making an appeal the defense argued that despite the fact that the father was absent the child confessed to having the offense after he was repeatedly cut off while trying to prove his innocence.

The Supreme Court went further to analyze the video tapes that had been recorded during the questioning that led up to the confession, and ultimately determined that the questioning was made intelligently, knowingly and voluntarily . The officer who had conducted the questioning by means of fundamental standards and that the father had left the room on request from the son. After the consideration of all the relevant factors to admissibility, the court made a confirmation of the Appellate Division's decision.

 

References

Gosselin, Denise Kindschi (2007). Smart Talk. Contemporary Interviewing and Interrogation. Upper Saddle River, NJ.  Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 13, "Juvenile Rights and Police Responsibilities,"

Maynard & Summer (2012) Juvenile Crimes: Admissibility of a Juvenile Confession available at < http://www.njlawattorney.com/blog/2012/10/juvenile-crimes-admissibility-of-a-juvenile-confession.shtml> [Accessed on January 9, 2012]

MaryAnn (2012) Supreme Court: Juvenile Confessions Away From Parents Admissible In Certain Circumstances available at <http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/09/confession_of_a_juvenile_out_o.html> [Accessed on January 9, 2012]