CONFESSION

confession,n. A criminal suspect’s oral or written acknowledgment of guilt, often including details about the crime. Cf. ADMISSION; STATEMENT(3). [Cases: Criminal Law  516. C.J.S. Criminal Law § 878.] “A confession is an acknowledgment in express words, by the accused in a criminal case, of the truth of the main fact charged or of some essential part of it.” 3 John H. Wigmore, Evidence in Trials at Common Law § 821, at 308 (James H. Chadbourn ed., 4th rev. ed. 1970).

“The distinction between admissions in criminal cases and confessions by the accused is the distinction in effect between admissions of fact from which the guilt of the accused may be inferred by the jury and the express admission of guilt itself.” William P. Richardson, The Law of Evidence§ 394, at 268 (3d ed. 1928). coerced confession.A confession that is obtained by threats or force. [Cases: Criminal Law  519, 522. C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 893, 908.] direct confession.A statement in which an accused person acknowledges having committed the crime. extrajudicial confession.A confession made out of court, and not as a part of a judicial examination or investi-gation. • Such a confession must be corroborated by some other proof of the corpus delicti, or else it is insufficient to warrant a conviction. Cf. judicial confession. implied confession.A confession in which the person does not plead guilty but invokes the mercy of the court and asks for a light sentence. indirect confession.A confession that is inferred from the defendant’s conduct. interlocking confessions.Confessions by two or more suspects whose statements are substantially the same and consistent concerning the elements of the crime. • Such confessions are admissible in a joint trial. [Cases: Criminal Law  528. C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 983, 988–990.] involuntary confession.A confession induced by the police or other law-enforcement authorities who make promises to, coerce, or deceive the suspect. [Cases: Criminal Law 519–526. C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 882, 893–897, 901, 903, 906–912, 929–931.] judicial confession.A plea of guilty or some other direct manifestation of guilt in court or in a judicial proceeding. Cf. extrajudicial confession. naked confession.A confession unsupported by any evidence that a crime has been committed, and therefore usu. highly suspect. [Cases: Criminal Law  535. C.J.S. Criminal Law § 942.] oral confession.A confession that is not made in writing. • Oral confessions are admissible, though as a practical matter police interrogators prefer to take written or recorded confessions since juries typically view these as being more reliable. plenary confession (plee-n<<schwa>>-ree orplen-<<schwa>>-). A complete confession; one that is believed to be conclusive against the person who made it. relative confession.Hist. A confession of guilt coupled with an accusation against another person as a participant in the crime. • If the accusation against the other person was proved, the accusing defendant was pardoned. If not, the defendant was convicted on the confession. See State v. Willis, 41 A. 820, 825 (Conn. 1898). See AP-PROVER(1). threshold confession.A spontaneous confession made promptly after arrest and without interrogation by the police. • The issue whether the defendant’s statement is a threshold confession usu. arises when the defendant challenges the admissibility of the confession on grounds that he or she suffered an impermissibly long delay before being brought before a magistrate. Courts generally admit this type of confession into evidence if the confession was given before the delay occurred. voluntary confession.A confession given freely, without any benefit or punishment promised, threatened, or expected.[Blacks Law 8th]