State v. Gruender

I dissent only on the issue of the admission of Gruender’s confession in evidence without a determination by the trial court that the confession was voluntary.

This is an important legal principle for a trial court to follow. It is an important principle for this court to clarify.

During a hearing out of the presence of the jury, Gruender contended that the whole purpose of the hearing was to determine whether the confession was voluntary. The trial court disagreed. It merely found that the evidence was conflicting and held: “I think the matter of evaluating the confession is really for the…