State of Tennessee, Appellee v. Nathan Smith, Appellant

Summary

The court affirmed Smith’s aggravated-sexual-battery convictions, holding that his statements to a mental-health counselor were not obtained during custodial interrogation, were not involuntary, and were not elicited in violation of due process. The court also held that the statutory abrogation of the counselor-patient privilege in child-sexual-abuse proceedings did not itself violate due process, and that the record showed no state interference with the counselor’s failure to disclose the lack of confidentiality. Justices Reid and White, dissenting, would have suppressed the statements as involuntary and fundamentally unfair because of the DHS worker’s implied promise of leniency and threat of prosecution.