Section 11.13 Actions of Interrogators

• Library: Criminal Practice 2012 Supp

1. (§11.13) Actions of Interrogators

Actions of interrogators, such as promises, threats, beatings, deprivation of food or sleep, isolation of the defendant, tricks or deception, and violation of the “twenty-hour rule,” should be considered. See § 544.170, RSMo Supp. 2004; State v. Feltrop, 803 S.W.2d 1, 12–13 (Mo. banc 1991), cert. denied, 501 U.S. 1262 (1991); Roberts v. State, 476 S.W.2d 490, 494 (Mo. 1972); Gooden v. State, 846 S.W.2d 214, 219 (Mo. App. S.D. 1993). Confessions extracted by a direct or implied promise of leniency are inadmissible. State v. Smith, 944 S.W.2d 901, 911 (Mo. banc 1997) (a noncommital statement by the police that is twisted into a promise in the mind of the defendant does not rise to the level of an implied promise); State v. Skillicorn, 944 S.W.2d 877, 890 (Mo. banc 1997). A confession derived from an interview by an interrogator who had been a...