Commonwealth v. Novo

This case requires us to determine whether police interrogation tactics used to secure a suspect’s confession during the course of a videotape recorded interview made the confession involuntary. We conclude that the motion judge correctly suppressed the confession itself, but that statements made prior to specific acts of coercive police conduct were voluntary, and can be admitted in evidence at trial.

1. Background. Rui Novo stands indicted for murder in the *263first degree, stemming from the death of Joshua Santos, the two year old son of Novo’s girl friend, Melissa Santos. Novo and Santos…