The admissibility of confession will depend on a number of things one of them being relevance of the information given. The confession that was given by the defendant was relevant to this particular case since the defendant claimed that she knew the mentally ill youth was meant to die in the house once it was set on fire. This shows that there was a plan which was well executed to kill the two young people. This confession was very important as it related directly to the circumstances of this whole scenario and therefore, it was admissible. The confession was also relevant and admissible before the court of law since it has not been excluded by the law. It is important to note that there are confessions which have been excluded by the law and therefore, cannot be produced before the court of law as evidence implicating the defendant (Garland, 2011).
The confession given by the defendant is also admissible on the grounds of being rational to the facts of the entire situation. It is directly connected to the matter being investigated and therefore, it is admissible. Apart from that it carries a lot of weight and value in regards to the issue since the defendant was present at the planning stage and was directly involved in the entire plan of setting the house on fire. The defendant did this in order to conceal the fact that her 12 years old son had died while asleep as a result of being neglected.
The defendant confessed about all the material facts surrounding this case without being induced and therefore, the confession was admissible. Besides that, the confession was not hearsay but came from one of the key players in executing this whole operation of setting the house on fire while there were two young persons inside.
According to Garland, MacGowen and Meranze, (2011), the mere fact that the defendant was cautioned by the police on the dangers of giving such kind of confession makes the confession reliable since she had thorough knowledge about the implications of everything that she said before the police. The defendant was also given time to relax and think about the information she was giving to the police and therefore, she was in her sober mind when she was confessing to the police. The confession is admissible on the grounds that the police did not coerce the defendant to give the confession but she did it at her own volition. The police took all reasonable care required in obtaining the confession from the defendant by giving her the required time and warned her on the implications of the confession and hence it was admissible.
The confession given by the defendant was also admissible since it could affect the outcome of the case. The confession must be directly related to the question (Garland, MacGowen & Meranze, 2011). This makes it strong evidence which implicates the defendant and the other parties who assisted her in planning to execute the killings. The confession is also important in filing a murder case against the defendant together with her sons and friends who assisted in planning. The confession carries a lot of weight to convict all of them for murder charges. The defendant and the two friends and the sons had a motive to execute the crime and therefore, the confession given by the defendant was admissible since it would play a great role in providing material evidence before the court of law.
References
Garland, M., N. (2011). Criminal Evidence. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Garland, D., MacGowen, R. & Meranze, M,. (2011). America’s death penalty: Between past and present. New York: McGraw-Hill.