posted
When I was a pious lad, I recall the local priest had kept the confession of a guy who had committed a crime for roughly 20 years, until the man's death, when he finally came out with the truth. So yeah, in the US, they do respect priest/sinner confidentiality.
Registered: Feb 2005
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"Hearsay anyway- anything said through that screen would get kicked out."
My understanding is that it's not hearsay when the person who said it is the defendant.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Saltah'na
Chinese Canadian, or 75% Commie Bastard.
Member # 33
posted
I think the most ironic thing is that all of this would not have happened if the hapless but innocent defendant was given the death penalty. You heard them, they would have divulged that information if he had been condemmed, but a life sentence became exactly that, a life sentence.
-------------------- "And slowly, you come to realize, it's all as it should be, you can only do so much. If you're game enough, you could place your trust in me. For the love of life, there's a tradeoff, we could lose it all but we'll go down fighting...." - David Sylvian FreeSpace 2, the greatest space sim of all time, now remastered!
Registered: Mar 1999
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"Hearsay anyway- anything said through that screen would get kicked out."
My understanding is that it's not hearsay when the person who said it is the defendant.
This would be the word of a witness that heard a confession through a screen without seeing the person speaking- not hearsay exactly, just real shakey- probably inadmissable- testimony from the priest. A lawyer could argue the screen muffled the defenant's voice, the screen prevents positive identification, etc.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
There's usually a non-screened side to the confessional booth, too. But, yeah, the defense attorney could make the "are you sure it was my client?" argument. I'm just saying that a statement made by the defendant wouldn't be thrown out on the grounds of hearsay.
Registered: Mar 1999
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