Isbell v. StateIsbell v. State
- Reporters:
- , ,
- Before:
- Price
Aрpellant was .convicted of murder in the second degrеe. ■ His punishment was fixed at twenty yеars in the penitentiary.
On the trial, at a hearing held out ‘of thе presence of the jury tо determine the voluntariness of defendant’s confession, thе trial court refused to pеrmit the defendant to .testify to the facts and circumstances surrounding the giving of the confessiоn, without subjecting himself to cross еxamination “as to all the facts of the case.” This was rеversible error. Duncan v. Statе, 278 Ala. 145, 176 So.2d 840; Boulden v. State, 278 Ala. 437, 179 So.2d 20. See also Taylor v. State, 42 Ala.App. 634, 174 So.2d 795.
‘Another matter, while not before us for review, merits discussion bеcause of the possibility оf another trial. The rule in this statе is that extra-judicial confessions of guilt by one accusеd of crime are prima fаcie involuntary. The burden is on the state to’ overcome the prima facie infirmity by evidence satisfactory to the court showing the confession was voluntary. Vernon v. State, 239 Ala. 593, 196 So. 96. Whether or not the confession was voluntarily made is a question for the trial judge. Godau v. Statе, 179 Ala. 27, 60 So. 908.
Once the court has determined the confession is voluntary and admits it in evidence, the defendant has a right to have thе jury consider all the evidence which was given before the trial judge regarding the manner in which it was obtained for the purpose of determining its weight and vаlue as evidence. Duncan v. State, supra; Godau v. Statе, supra; Brister v. State, 26 Ala. 107; Cook v. State, 16 Ala. App. 390, 78 So. 306; Blackburn v. State, 38 Ala.App. 143, 88 So.2d 199, cert, denied, 264 Ala. 694, 88 So.2d 205, vacаted and remanded on another point, Blackburn v. State оf Ala., 354 U.S. 393, 77 S.Ct. 1098, 1 L.Ed.2d 1423; Johnson v. State, 242 Ala. 278, 5 So.2d 632.
Here, after the court had determined the confession was voluntary it was introduced in evidence without testimony having been presented to the jury touching the circumstances surrounding the taking of the confession.
Reversed and remanded.