Colorado v. Liggett

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A police officer stopped the vehicle defendant Ari Liggett was driving, and upon asking dispatch to scan the license plate, determined that it was associated with both a missing person (defendant's mother) and an armed-and-dangerous person (defendant himself). After police ordered defendant to turn off the car and place both hands through the window, defendant opted to speed off. A chase ensued. Defendant spun out and hit a concrete wall. Defendant was later chased on foot, ultimately surrendered, and was arrested. In an interlocutory appeal, the issue this case presented for the Supreme Court's review centered on whether statements defendant made to investigators while the investigators "were talking among themselves" and other unsolicited statements should have been suppressed at defendant's trial for murder, crime of violence and vehicular eluding. The statements defendant made were given prior to a reading of his Miranda rights. The trial court suppressed a majority of the defendant's statements, finding that they were involuntary. The Supreme Court held, however, that considering the totality of the circumstances, investigators never overbore defendant's will, and the statements were voluntary. The trial court was reversed and the matter remanded for further proceedings. View "Colorado v. Liggett" on Justia Law