State of Iowa v. Jesse John Pearson

WATERMAN, Justice.

This case presents our first opportunity to address the impact of a defendant’s underage status on the Miranda custody analysis in light of J.D.B. v. North Carolina, 564 U.S. -, 131 S.Ct. 2394, 180 L.Ed.2d 310 (2011) (remanding to reconsider custody issue in light of thirteen-year-old suspect’s age). Our analysis turns on the specific circumstances of this interview: a confession received by a fa miliar social worker conducting the juvenile’s status assessment at his youth home — without the coercive pressure of an unfamiliar police officer interrogating him at the station…