State v. Rogers

Citations

• 99 S.C. 504
• 83 S.C. 971

Syllabus

<p>Criminal Law. Confessions. Evidence. Issues. Trial.</p> <p>1. Criminal Law — Confession—Admissibility.—A confession is not admissible unless it is voluntary, and whether it is voluntary is, in the first instance, for the presiding Judge, but the jury are the final judges of the fact.</p> <p>2. Criminal Law — Confession—Voluntary-—-Burden of Proof. — The State, seeking to introduce a confession in evidence, has the burden of proving that it was voluntary, and there is no presumption of law that it was voluntary.</p> <p>3. Criminal Law- — Confession—Voluntary—Evidence—Submission to Jury. — Where, the Court, excluding the jury while hearing evidence on the question whether a confession was voluntary, decided that it was voluntary, the State, on the jury being recalled, must show the facts leading up to the confession and introduce again all the testimony on which the Judge based his ruling, so that they may finally determine whether the confession was voluntary.</p>