Supreme Court of the United States
Pinto, Prison Farm Superintendent v. Pierce
October 23, 1967389 U.S. 31
Summary
The Court held that a voluntariness hearing conducted in the presence of the jury does not violate the Constitution when trial counsel consents and the judge finds the confession voluntary, and therefore reversed the district court's grant of habeas relief. Justice Fortas filed a concurring opinion expressing disagreement with the majority’s view of the procedure’s constitutionality.
Holding
- Whether a voluntariness hearing held in the presence of the jury, with trial counsel’s consent and a judicial finding of voluntariness, violates the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. No constitutional violation occurs; the procedure is permissible when counsel consents and the judge finds the confession voluntary
- Whether the district court erred in granting a writ of habeas corpus based on the alleged procedural defect. The district court’s grant was erroneous; the writ is dismissed
Docket 284
Cited by
- Commonwealth v. Steven P. Acerbi
- Jessie Lee Williams v. the State of Texas, State.
- James Lee Marion v. Dr. George J. Beto
- State of South Dakota, Plaintiff and Appellee v. Dennis Lufkins, Defendant and Appellant
- State of Connecticut v. Jeffrey Gibson
- Gary Moore v. State of Arkansas
- The State of Missouri v. Gerald Edwards
- State v. Peabody