Corley v. United States

Amicus curiae brief of the National Association of Criminal Defense lawyers in support of the petition for writ of certiorari.

Brief filed: 05/19/2008

Documents

Corley v. United States

United States Supreme Court; Case No. 07-10441

Prior Decision

Case below 500 F.3d 210 (3rd Cir. 2007)

Question Presented

Whether 18 U.S.C. §3501—read together with Fed. R. Crim. P. Rule 5(a), McNabb v. United States, 318 U.S. 332 (1943), and Mallory v. United States, 354 U.S. 449 (1957)—requires that a confession taken more than six hours after arrest and before presentment be suppressed if there was an unreasonable or unnecessary delay in bringing the defendant before the magistrate judge. To reconcile a split in the circuits, brief argues that a §3501(c) bright line rule is needed, as litigating the §3501(b) voluntariness test in every case where the defendant challenges admissibility of a confession would create a burden on the courts, in addition to fostering uncertainty among law enforcement officers and defense lawyers as to which confessions should be excluded.

Argument(s)

 

Author(s)

Jeffrey T. Green and Holly L. Henderson, Sidley Austin LLP, Washington, DC and Sarah O’Rourke Schrup, Northwestern University Supreme Court Practicum, Chicago, IL. Brief of NACDL and the National Association of Federal Defenders in support of petitioner filed 11/24/08. Authors: Jeffrey T. Green and Quin M. Sorenson, Sidley Austin, Washington, DC.