California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Sapp, 2 Cal.Rptr.3d 554, 31 Cal.4th 240, 73 P.3d 433 (Cal. 2003):
In ruling on defendant's suppression motion in this case, the trial court applied the stricter beyond a reasonable doubt standard in determining that defendant had voluntarily confessed to all three murders. We "`independently determine' " voluntariness while accepting "`the trial court's resolution of disputed facts and inferences, and its evaluations of credibility, if supported by substantial evidence.' " (People v. Storm, supra, 28 Cal.4th at pp. 1022-1023, 124 Cal.Rptr.2d 110, 52 P.3d 52.) Nonetheless, we agree with the trial court that the prosecution proved beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant voluntarily confessed to all three murders. We likewise conclude that the confessions were not the tainted by a violation of defendant's Miranda rights.
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