JUVENILE SUSPECT CONFESSIONS OBTAINED BY 'DECEPTION' COULD END WITH
NEW BILL
SB 890, a measure filed on February 16 by Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, would make confessions from juvenile suspects inadmissible if "deception" is used
by police to obtain it.
The recently refiled measure by the Central Florida lawmaker has not yet received committee references and there is no House companion.
Any suspect 18 or younger who is subject to a "custodial interrogation," and any confession obtained through the knowing use of "deception" would be covered under the
bill.
"Unauthorized statements regarding leniency" and the use of "false facts about evidence" are how the measure defines "deception."
In some situations, prosecutors could show "by a preponderance of evidence, that the confession was voluntarily given based on the totality of circumstances," the
presumption of inadmissibility could be overcome.
Last year, SB 668, a similar measure filed by Sen. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa had unanimously cleared two committees
before it stalled in the Senate Rules during the final days of the legislative session.
