Addison v. Commonwealth

This appeal presents the question whether a confession, given in a sheriffs office at a time when no probable cause existed to arrest the defendant, was voluntary.

Norman Addison was convicted, pursuant to Code § 18.2-80, of aiding and abetting the arson of an unoccupied building. At his non-jury trial, after offering proof of the corpus delicti, the Commonwealth relied on several statements made by the defendant to the sheriff and his deputies as proof of the defendant’s participation in the crime. The defendant moved to suppress these statements on the ground that, notwithstanding his…