BILLY RAY HOLLY, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Affirmed conviction for arson despite police deception during interrogation, but vacated portion of sentence referencing 'First Step' program outside Volusia County.
A trial court's finding that a confession was voluntary and not coerced is presumed correct and will not be reversed on appeal despite police lying and extended questioning.
[1] A trial court's finding that a confession was voluntary and not coerced is presumed correct and will not be reversed on appeal despite police deception and extended inter…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“While there is no question the police lied to this appellant, kept him under questioning for some four hours, with intermittent breaks, and promised, untruthfully, to help find the murderer of his father, the decision of the trial judge, under all the circumstances of this case, is presumed correct.”
Court acknowledging police deception but applying presumption of correctness to trial judge's voluntariness finding
Appellant was convicted of arson after confessing to the crime during police interrogation lasting approximately four hours with intermittent breaks, …
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DAUKSCH, Judge.
This is an appeal from a conviction and sentence in an arson case. Appellant challenges the trial court’s finding that his confession to the crime was not coerced and voluntary. While there is no question the police lied to this appellant, kept him under questioning for some four hours, with intermittent breaks, and promised, untruthfully, to help find the murderer of his father, the decision of the trial judge, under all the circumstances of this case, is presumed correct. It will not be reversed. McNamara v. State, 357 So. 2d 410 (Fla.1978).
This sentence raises the first appearance of “First Step” in a county in this district other than Volusia. That portion of the sentence is stricken. Fyler v. State, 645 So. 2d 108 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994); McLeod v. State, 645 So. 2d 116 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994); Sweet v. State, 644 So. 2d 176 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994); Mittner v. State, 648 So. 2d 139 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994); Tibero v. State, 646 So. 2d 213 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994); Murray v. State, 647 So. 2d 313 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994); Avallone v. State, 646 So. 2d 745 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994); Watson v. State, 641 So. 2d 432 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994); Macon v. State, 639 So. 2d 206 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994); Eckenrode v. State, 638 So. 2d 214 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994); Botts v. State, 634 So. 2d 197 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994).
JUDGMENT AFFIRMED; SENTENCE AFFIRMED in part; VACATED in part.
COBB and THOMPSON, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited (15 total)
- McNAMARA v. State, 357 So. 2d 410 (Fla. 1978)
- Tibero v. State, 646 So. 2d 213 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994)
- Goshay v. State, 646 So. 2d 213 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994)
- Botts v. State, 634 So. 2d 197 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994)
- Kevel Watson v. State, 641 So. 2d 432 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994)
- F.B. v. State, 644 So. 2d 176 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)
- Hernandez v. State, 638 So. 2d 214 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)
- Eckenrode v. State, 638 So. 2d 214 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994)
- Murray v. State, 647 So. 2d 313 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994)
- Avallone v. State, 646 So. 2d 745 (Fla. 5th DCA 1994)