Watts v. Indiana ex rel. Harris/Concurrence Douglas

by William O. Douglas

United States Supreme Court

338 U.S. 49

Watts  v.  Indiana ex rel. Harris

Mr. Justice DOUGLAS, concurring.

Petitioner was taken into custody early in the afternoon on Wednesday, November 12, 1947. He was first detained on suspicion of having committed a criminal assault, and it was not until later in the day of his arrest that he was suspected of having committed the murder for which he was later tried and convicted. He was held without being arraigned, until the following Tuesday when he gave a confession that satisfied the police. At no time was he advised of his right to remain silent, nor did he have the advice of family, friends or counsel during his confinement. He was not promptly arraigned as Indiana law requires.

During this confinement, petitioner was held in the county jail. The first two days he was placed in solitary confinement in a cell known among the prisoners as 'the hole.' There was no place on which to sit or sleep except the floor. Throughout this six-day confinement petitioner was subjected each day, except Sunday, to long periods of interrogation. He was moved to the State Police Headquarters for these questionings. The question period would usually begin about six o'clock in the evening, except for the first night when it began about eleven thirty. Each question period would extend to two or three o'clock the following morning. These interrogations were conducted by relays of small groups of officers. On several occasions petitioner was given lie-detector tests. Following the evening's interrogation, he would be returned to the county jail. Even then he was not always given respite until the next evening's ordeal commenced. He was subjected to intermittent questioning during the day, and on three afternoons he was driven about the town for several hours by the police in an attempt to elicit further information and to reconstruct petitioner's activities the day of the crime.

It was about two or three o'clock Tuesday morning after about seven hours' interrogation that petitioner gave the confession used against him over objection at his trial. This was after six days of confinement.

It would be naive to think that this protective custody was less than the inquisition. The man was held until he broke. Then and only then was he arraigned and given the protection which the law provides all accused. Detention without arraignment is a time-honored method for keeping an accused under the exclusive control of the police. They can then operate at their leisure. The accused is wholly at their mercy. He is without the aid of counsel or friends; and he is denied the protection of the magistrate. We should unequivocally condemn the procedure and stand ready to outlaw, as we did in Malinski v. People of State of New York, 324 U.S. 401, 65 S.Ct. 781, 89 L.Ed. 1029, and Haley v. State of Ohio, 332 U.S. 596, 68 S.Ct. 302, 92 L.Ed. 224, any confession obtained during the period of the unlawful detention. The procedure breeds coerced confessions. It is the root of the evil. It is the procedure without which the inquisition could not flourish in the country.

For concurring opinion of Mr. Justice JACKSON, see 338 U.S. 49, 69 S.Ct. 1357.

Notes