Vault v. State

I could not agree to the reversal of this case if it were not for the fact that we abandoned the traditional “substantial evidence” test for review of questions of voluntariness of confessions in Harris v. State, 244 Ark. 314, 425 S.W. 2d 293, and committed ourselves to an independent determination of voluntariness, saying that we would still give considerable weight to the findings of the trial judge and respectful consideration of them on the crucial issue, so long as the independent responsibility of the appellate court to determine the question of volun-tariness is not frustrated. I now…