William O. Douglas

“ This Court might well have disagreed in that case with findings so made, and, with less hesitation than is appropriate here, where the determinations of voluntariness have been so constant and so numerous, have reached an opposite conclusion. In this case we are not considering the validity of a conviction by certiorari to the court affirming that judgment. Voluntariness has not been here inadequately tested by a standard which refuses to take account of relevant factors. ”

“ Whether the police used this technique on Emil Reck no one knows. We do know from this record that Emil Reck was quite ill during his detention. He was so ill that he was taken to a hospital incommunicado. He was so ill he passed blood. What actually transpired no one will know. The records coming before us that involve the relations between the police and a prisoner during periods of confinement are extremely unreliable. ”

“ Further, the issue of voluntariness of the confession in Turner was submitted to the jury, but the trial judge refused to charge 'that in considering the voluntariness of the confession the prolonged interrogation should be considered.' At page 65, of 338 U.S., at page 1353 of 69 S.Ct. And the appellate court considered it an indifferent circumstance that 'a convicted murderer' was held five days in jail. ”

“ The late Professor Alexander Kennedy of the University of Edinburgh has put into illuminating words the manner in which long-continued interrogation under conditions of stress can give the interrogator effective command over the prisoner. [2] The techniques-now explained in a vast literature-include (1) disorientation and disillusion; (2) synthetic conflict and tension; (3) crisis and conversion ”

“ The father was denied the right to see his son over and again. The son was hold for at least eight full days incommunicado. He was arraigned before a magistrate on April 2, 1936, only after he had confessed. ”

“ I need only cite one example, where he finds that his 'cold summary * * * carries an unexpressed import of police brutality * * *.' While the Court of Appeals, at least sub silentio, overturned some of these findings, the State does not take issue with the basic facts in the summary but does strenuously object to its conclusory findings. Perhaps the explanation for these differences is best explained by the federal judge himself, when he finds that he has read ' (t) he record * * * in the light most favorable' to Reck ”