finding error harmless because circumstantial evidence of guilt was overwhelming
How later courts described this case
- finding error harmless because circumstantial evidence of guilt was overwhelming
- a confession is not involuntary as long as it is the product of free and rational choice
- discussing apparent changes in Supreme Court treatment of issue and applying "harmless beyond reasonable doubt" analysis to involuntary statements
- "In determining whether an accused's will has been overborne, courts look to the totality of the circumstances surrounding the confession and determine their psychological impact on the accused's ability to resist pressures to confess."
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
KENNEDY, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I concur in Part III of the majority’s opinion that the admission of the confession was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. I also concur in footnote 1 that there is no merit to the other claims raised by appellants.