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SCOTUS reverses Third Circuit, reinstating mandatory McNabb-Mallory rule

By Candace Hom, Melinda Ghilardi, Nancy Rimmer, Sarah Gannett, Renee Pietropaolo and Tieffa Harper

In a 5-4 decision released today, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the McNabb-Mallory rule by holding that confessions taken more than six hours after a federal arrest, but before the defendant is presented to a magistrate judge, must generally be suppressed -- even if they are voluntarily given. The Third Circuit, somewhat reluctantly following its prior precedent on the issue, had held that McNabb-Mallory was abrogated by a federal statute (18 U.S.C. 3501) that makes voluntariness the sole criterion for the admissibility of a confession. Today's decision in Corley v. United States, No. 07-10441 (U.S. Apr. 6, 2009), reverses that judgment.The Court ruled that Section 3501 merely modifies McNabb-Mallory by carving the first six hours after arrest from its ambit...continue to full post

Full post as published by Third Circuit Blog on April 06, 2009 (boomark / email).