ipl-logo

How Did Sara Ryker Confess Voluntarily Under The Circumstances When Officers Questioned Her?

1501 Words7 Pages

I. Questions Presented
Under Kansas law, did Sara Ryker confess voluntarily under the circumstances when officers questioned her?
1. Does Ryker’s ability to communicate with the outside world upon request weigh in favor of a voluntary confession when she asked to use the phone and the officers told her she had to wait?
2. Do Ryker’s age, intellect, and background support a voluntary confession when she is 20 years old, possesses low intelligence, and has no criminal background?
3. Do the officers’ fairness weigh in favor of a voluntary confession when they interrogated Ryker using threats and intimidating language?
II. Brief Answers
No. Ryker did not confess voluntarily under Kansas case law. Under this case law, to determine voluntariness …show more content…

No. The ability to communicate with the outside world upon request suggests promptness in complying with a request for access to the outside world. A court will likely find that Ryker did not have this ability because the police officers conducting her interrogation were not prompt in granting her request.
2. No. If a person is quite young, possesses lower than average intelligence, and has no criminal background or knowledge of criminal proceedings, it is less likely that they confessed voluntarily. A court will likely find that because Ryker is quite young, possesses lower than standard intelligence, and has no criminal background, it is less likely that her confession was voluntary.
3. No. When officers use threats and coercion to encourage the accused to confess, it is less likely that the accused confessed voluntarily. Because the officers threatened Ryker with physical violence and used coercive tactics against her, a court will likely weigh this factor against …show more content…

In Wakefield, the accused asserted that his confession was involuntary partially because the police officers conducting his interrogation had isolated him from outside help. Id. at 943. However, on the record of the interrogation, when the accused asked if he could use the phone to get in contact with his sister and his girlfriend’s mother, the police officers immediately suggested that they take a break from the interrogation so that he could do so. Id. at 944. The court determined that based on this interaction, the officers had not isolated the accused from the outside world.

Show More
Related

The Case Of Dustin Moir

784 Words | 4 Pages

Dudley’s statements contained inconsistencies. Further, it led to the belief that Dudley was simply trying to exonerate himself as a witness when giving his statement against Moir. In addition to Dudley, another key witness Mr. Gordon’s statements also had inconsistencies. Gordon claimed that he had given a shovel to Moir prior to Acorn’s death. This may lead the jury to believe that Moir’s involvement in Acorn’s murder was planned and deliberate (para. 27).

Read More

Wendell Clayton Case Study

1593 Words | 7 Pages

The Majority of the court 's decision includes McLachlin C.J. and Bastarache, Deschamps, Abella, Charron and Rothstein JJ. The court had to decide in this case whether the seriousness of an offence or knowing that one might be a threat to public safety can be a justification to stop anyone without having solid evidence against them. The court stated that both Mr. Clayton and Mr. Farmer were guilty of carrying concealed weapons in a public place. The police had the right to search them even though their car didn’t match the description described by the 911 caller because the officers have to be consistent with their duty towards public safety and act in accordance to the seriousness of the

Read More

Mayella Ewell Case Report

983 Words | 4 Pages

Good morning I am Luke Thomsen, I am representing the State of Maycomb on a case about Sheriff Heck Tate’s poor investigation. On two counts we will first hear about his poor investigation in the Tom Robinson V, Mayella Ewell case and in the death of Bob Ewell for we never found out who truly murdered Bob Ewell for Sheriff Heck was too lazy to document it. THE THEME AND THEORY

Read More

Marshard Claims Silvi Police Report

1304 Words | 6 Pages

RESPONDENT’S ANSWER In response to the first issue, Marshard explains “my file notes state I met with Mr. Sylvia to explain that the Court would appoint him an attorney to explore his 5th Amendment right and to discuss with him whether he wished to waive or assert that right.” Marshard maintains that she wanted Silvia to know he was a victim in this matter and not a defendant. She states this was important because “(1) the pending clerk’s hearing where charges were being pursued by Mr. Petersen and (2) Mr. Sylvia had often been a defendant when the court appointed him an attorney.” Marshard claims Silvia “does not always appear to accurately grasp the situation.”

Read More

Justice In Robert Cormier's The Rag Snd Bone Shop

467 Words | 2 Pages

Justice is a behavior or treatment, the quality of being fair and responsible, the administration of the law or authority and maintain this. Greed is the intese and selfish desire for something, especially wealth or power. In the novel The Rag snd Bone Shop Robert Cormier shows an act of greed while seeking an unfair justice. Trent a well known interrogator plays mind games with 12-year old Jason Dorrant searching for a confession to the murder of a 7-year old girl, Alicia Barlett. In the novel The Rag and Bone Shop, Robert Cormier characterizes Trent as a greedy man who stands for justice.

Read More

Why Was Salinas Silence A True Exercise Of The Fifth Amendment?

1407 Words | 6 Pages

Key Facts: On December 18, 1992, two brothers were shot and killed in their Houston home after throwing a party the previous night. Police obtained six shotgun shells from the site and received a description of a potential suspect from a local neighbor. The investigation led the police to Salinas, who willingly agreed to relinquish his shotgun for ballistics testing and to accompany police for further questioning. The interview lasted approximately one hour, where both parties were later in agreement that Salinas was not detained nor was he read Miranda warnings. Salinas answered most questions during the interview, but fell silent when asked if “his shotgun ‘would match the shells recovered at the scene of the murder.’”

Read More

Compare And Contrast Davis And Hammon

1019 Words | 5 Pages

She concludes that there was an ongoing emergency in Bryant’s case because the perpetrator was in possession of firearm, the motive and his location were unidentified, the crime happened not too far away from where the victim was found, and the crime happened a few minutes before the police officers found the victim. According to Justice Sotomayor, based on Mr. Covington’s condition and statements “[the court] cannot say that a person in [his] situation would have had a ‘primary purpose’ ‘to establish or prove past events potentially relevant to later criminal prosecution’” (Michigan v. Bryant 29). Also, based on the questions that the police officers asked allows the court to conclude that their primary purpose was to assess an ongoing emergency rather than getting evidence for future prosecution. The court also took into consideration where the interrogation took place to determine if it was formal or not.

Read More

Summary Of The Reid Technique Of Interrogation

816 Words | 4 Pages

Although the Supreme Court has left little to no clear definition for what “impermissibly coercive police tactics” entail, it is clear that police are not allowed to make promises, threaten, torture or otherwise harm the individual for purposes of confession. In Monson’s case, clear “coercive police tactics” were used, if not relied upon, to force a confession from a man who never committed the crime based on the application of the Reid Techniques for interrogation, a tactic that has produced a significant number of false confessions. Additionally, the Self-Incrimination Clause protects individuals from being “compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” In other words, this means that you are not required by law to answer questions that may incriminate you, and refusal to respond may not be used against you in a court of law. Monson’s interrogation also included incriminating questions surrounding his presence at and relationship to the crime scene because he had been involved in drug dealing at the time, making it easy for police to build on a string of

Read More

Should Robert Solomon Receive A Vye Direction At The End Of His Trial

999 Words | 4 Pages

This essay will consider whether Robert Solomon should receive a Vye direction at the end of his trial. This will be approached from the defence position and therefore will identify the arguments to support Robert having a Vye direction. Vye directions were established in the case of Vye and are given by the judge when summing up to the jury. There are two limbs to this direction. The first limb relates to the defendant’s credibility and is only available to defendants who made pre-trial statements or give evidence.

Read More

False Confessions: Police Subculture

922 Words | 4 Pages

This is a clear example of police misconduct. It was apparent that Due Process wasn’t followed

Read More

Brotherhood Of Corruption, Walking With The Devil, By Cyndi Banks

1053 Words | 5 Pages

This book begins immediately with some shocking statistics that will allow the police officers in the ethics course to see just how prevalent the code of silence can be. Quinn reports, “only 39 percent of police officers believe fellow officers will report serious criminal violations involving the abuse of authority,” and “52,4 percent of police officers agreed, “It is not unusual for a police officer to turn a blind eye to improper conduct by other officers” (4). The book goes on to discuss why officers partake in the code of silence. A scenario given by the author describes an officer who reports to a domestic violence call and ends up being beaten by the offender. The offender would have killed the officer if it were not for the back up that arrived.

Read More

Analysis Of Scott O. Lilienfeld's 50 Great Myths Of Guilty

504 Words | 3 Pages

In a 2008 murder case policed locked the mother of the victim, the main suspect, in an interrogation room for several hours. They presented Ms. Trung with false evidence, acted

Read More

Examples Of Mass Hysteria In The Crucible

596 Words | 3 Pages

Mass hysteria can make people do terrible things. In arthur miller’s the crucible tells the story of mass hysteria in Salem Massachusetts in 1692 where people were being hunting and killing innocent people being accused of being something there not.www.history.com Miller uses this story to tell people that the Rewww.history.comd Scare during the 1950’s is the same mass hysteria as the salem witch trials. Miller was accused of being a communist just like people being accused of witchcraft during the salem witch trials.www.history.com The salem witch trials started in the spring in 1692. The Salem witch trials was started by a 9 year old name betty parris and a 11 year old named Abigail williams.www.history.com A doctor by the name of William

Read More

Juvenile Miranda Rights Essay

644 Words | 3 Pages

The court ruled that the officers made good efforts to locate the juvenile’s parents and that his confession was valid. To add to this, the juvenile’s parents must be contacted immediately because in U.S. v. John Doe, the officers contacted the parents but they waited 3 hours after the juvenile was taken into custody to contact them. It must be immediate for it to be

Read More

Ethical Issues In Interrogation

999 Words | 4 Pages

To be a good interrogator it requires more than confidence and creativity although it does help, but interrogators are very well trained in the mental tactics of social impact. An interrogators task is to get someone to confess to a crime, but it is not easy. While it isn’t easy for them, sometimes they will end up with confessions from the innocent testifies because of the expertise in psychological manipulation interrogators have. The interrogation process has been manipulated over the years and they are using unethical approaches to gain information or a confession from suspects. But in the law of confessions, it is required that confessions are not coerced but be voluntary so that it is admitted into evidence.

Read More

More about How Did Sara Ryker Confess Voluntarily Under The Circumstances When Officers Questioned Her?

Related Topics

Open Document