Spano v. New York (1958)
- Docket
- 582
- Decided
- 1958-01-01
- Category
- General
Summary
Question: Does the admission of Spano’s confession violate the Fourteenth Amendment? Conclusion: Yes. Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous opinion. The Court held that the interrogation tactics the police used -- such as questioning Spano for hours without a break and using a childhood friend to manipulate him -- were coercive and violated the Fourteenth Amendment. Because the confession was involuntary, it should not have been admitted into evidence in trial. In his concurring opinion, Justice William O. Douglas argued that the interrogation was also unconstitutional because the police denied Spano access to his lawyer. He wrote that a defendant who has been charged with a crime is entitled to representation by counsel, and that right extends beyond the trial. Justice Hugo L. Black and Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. joined in the concurrence. Justice Potter Stewart wrote a concurrence in which he argued that the judgment should be reversed solely due to the fact that the defendant was denied access to counsel during his interrogation. Justice William O. Douglas and Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. joined in the concurrence.