Harold Hitz Burton

“ The sheriff attempted to direct her attention to discovering whether her husband's death might have been due to an accident. To impress her with the importance of the distinction between murder and manslaughter, the district attorney read her some of the statutes relating to those crimes. In addition, he told her about an experience he had in the Army in Europe. He said he had been accused of killing five men but, by cooperating with investigating officials, he had been cleared of all blame for those deaths. ”

“ At the trial, the court held an extended hearing in the absence of the jury on the admissibility of petitioner's confessions. Petitioner took the stand during the preliminary hearing but testified only as to what the district attorney had said. She did not challenge any other statements of the sheriff, the deputy sheriff or the district attorney. The trial court ruled that all statements made by petitioner after her request for an attorney, including the written statement, should be excluded. Thus, only the oral confession was introduced in evidence before the jury. ”

“ A study of the record as a whole convinces us that the interview with petitioner was temperate and courteous. The sheriff proceeded cautiously and acted with consideration for the feelings of petitioner. For example, he explained that the reason he did not seek a written statement until the day after the interview was that 'We thought we would talk to her on the 10th, she would be calm and wouldn't be excited and she would know what she was doing. ”