U.S. ex rel. Cole v. Lane
| Decision Date | 11 June 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 84-2606,84-2606 |
| Citation | 793 F.2d 155 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America ex rel. Rickie COLE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Michael LANE, Director, State of Illinois Department of Corrections, Respondent-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
John Lanahan, Office of Public Defender of Cook County, Chicago, Ill., for petitioner.
Kenneth A. Fedinets, Office of the Ill. Atty. Gen., Chicago, Ill., for respondent.
Before CUDAHY, FLAUM and EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judges.
Rickie Cole was convicted of murder. The only issue in this collateral attack on the conviction is whether his confession is involuntary because obtained by use of (unkept) promises of lenity.
Cole contended that while he was in custody a police officer told him that he should confess, because if he did so he would be charged with manslaughter rather than murder. He confessed and was charged with murder. He also maintained that but for this promise he would not have confessed. After hearing evidence on the question, including the officer's denial, the trial judge stated:
The Court feels that the words and acts that the police officers as described by the Defendant did not constitute the coercion. There is nothing here to indicate that any of the acts or the words here were likely to produce any acts or words of the police officers that were likely to produce an untrustworthy confession.
This statement, which must be a victim of problems in transcription, is a conclusion that even if the officer said what Cole claims, the statement did not "coerce" an "untrustworthy" confession.
The state's appellate court affirmed the conviction in an unpublished opinion. The portion addressing the motion to suppress the confession states:
[I]t is evident that the trial court accepted defendant's version that offers of leniency were made. However, even if defendant's account of offers of leniency are [sic] accurate, a review of case law regarding the voluntariness of confessions after such promises are made reveals that the totality of the circumstances surrounding the giving of the confession must be examined; and, establishing that an offer was made does not, in itself, establish involuntariness. People v. Blaine [Baine ] (1st Dist.1980), 82 Ill.App.3d 604, 608, 403 N.E.2d 57, appeal denied, 81 Ill.2d 594.
We have reviewed the circumstances surrounding the giving of the confessions in this case and conclude that the trial court did not err in ruling that defendant's statements were made voluntarily.
The district court denied Cole's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, holding that the state courts' decision is supported by findings of fact that are binding under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2254(d). 589 F.Supp. 848, 851-53 (N.D.Ill.1984). The district court reasoned that if the state courts accepted Cole's contention that there had been promises, yet found the confession voluntary, then they must have concluded that the officer's statement did not cause Cole to confess. Because a confession is involuntary only if "obtained by" the promises, this implicit finding of no causation made the state courts' decision...
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Wilson v. O'Leary
...the conflicts on most matters of fact, and we may not infer from his bottom line any particular conclusions. United States ex rel. Cole v. Lane, 793 F.2d 155 (7th Cir.1986). Magistrate Bucklo also left unresolved the parties' different versions of the events during the confrontation. She fo......
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...coerced cannot be treated as a finding on the essential subsidiary facts demonstrating its voluntariness. United States ex rel. Cole v. Lane, 793 F.2d 155 (7th Cir.1986) (per curiam). But even if, in light of the absence of a finding to which we are obliged to accord respect, we assume that......
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...review." The teaching seems to be that the full-blown presumption of § 2254(d) may not apply to confessions. See United States ex rel. Cole v. Lane, 793 F.2d 155 (7th Cir.1986). With regard to § 2254(d) as to Sixth Amendment effective assistance of counsel issue, there appears to be some ve......
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