Miller v. State

OPINION

COATS, Chief Judge.

While investigating a fire of suspicious origins, the police questioned suspect Douglas Miller. Miller denied involvement in the fire. After the police assured Miller that if he started the fire by accident it was "not that big a thing" and would be "an over and done deal," Miller admitted that he had set fire to a block of insulation but thought he had fully extinguished it. The state charged Miller with arson for setting the fire and he was convicted. We conclude that Miller's statement to the police was involuntary because it was induced by an implied promise not…