Background
Acting on a tip, police picked up and interrogated Martin E. Frazier, a 20-year-old U.S. Marine, about his possible involvement in the murder of Russell Anton Marleau. Frazier, along with his cousin, Jerry Lee Rawls, were seen at a bar with the victim before the murder. During the interrogation, police falsely informed Frazier that Rawls had already confessed and implicated him in the murder. Frazier denied any involvement in the crime and suggested speaking with an attorney, but police continued to question him. Police elicited a confession, which was used against him at trial. Frazier was convicted of the murder of Russell Anton Marleau. Rawls pleaded guilty to the same offense.Arguments during appeal
Frazier appealed his conviction to theDecision
# The Court stated the trial judge followed necessary protocol by instructing the jury to disregard the references to Rawls's statements. The Court agreed the prosecution did not emphasize Rawls's statements over other evidence and the statements alone were not "touted to the jury as a crucial part of the prosecution's case". # The Court ruled Frazier did not formally request an attorney, as required for ''Escobedo v. Illinois'' to apply, and ''Miranda v. Arizona'' did not apply because the original trial took place in 1965, one year before ''Miranda''. The Court also ruled that the statement, on its own, did not render the confession involuntary based on a "totality of the circumstances" view. # The Court dismissed the illegal search argument, citing consent was legally obtained from Rawls and his mother. The Court ruled Rawls, a co-owner of the gym bag, was authorized to give consent to search the bag, even though items in certain compartments of the bag belonged to Frazier. The Court stated:The fact that the police misrepresented the statements that Rawls had made is, while relevant, insufficient, in our view, to make this otherwise voluntary confession inadmissible.
Subsequent history
Later case law has interpreted ''Frazier v. Cupp'' as the case permitting police deception during interrogations. The language of the ruling did not specifically state which forms of police deception were acceptable, but the ruling provided a precedent for a confession being voluntary even though deceptive tactics were used.References
Further reading
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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frazier V. Cupp 1969 in United States case law Confrontation Clause case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Warren Court Deception