Jonathan Doody v. Charles Ryan, et al, No. 06-17161 (9th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CaseDefendant, a seventeen-year old high school student, appealed his convictions on felony murder after the murder of nine individuals, including six monks, at a Buddhist temple. Although defendant eventually confessed to participating in the nine murders, he challenged his confession, asserting that the Miranda advisements he was given were inadequate and that his confession was involuntary. The court held that the advisement provided to defendant, which consumed twelve pages of transcript and completely obfuscated the core precepts of Miranda, was inadequate. The court also held that that nearly thirteen hours of relentless overnight questioning of a sleep-deprived teenager by a tag team of officers overbore the will of that teen, rendering his confession involuntary. The court further concluded that the state court rulings to the contrary were an unreasonable determination of the facts and an unreasonable application of governing Supreme Court precedent. Therefore, having reviewed the facts and circumstances of the case in light of Florida v. Powell, the court reaffirmed its prior rulings.
This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on November 19, 2008.
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