People v. Markham

Opinion

EAGLESON, J.

In People v. Jimenez (1978) 21 Cal.3d 595, 605 [147 Cal.Rptr. 172, 580 P.2d 672], this court first adopted “as a judicially declared rule of criminal procedure” the requirement that at trial the People prove the voluntariness of a defendant’s confession beyond a reasonable doubt. The United States Supreme Court had earlier held that the federal Constitution required only that the prosecution prove a confession voluntary by a preponderance of the evidence. (Lego v. Twomey (1972) 404 U.S. 477, 489 [30 L.Ed.2d 618, 627, 92 S.Ct. 619].)1

We granted review in this case to…