State v. Hermes

The State of Montana (State) appeals from the order of the Nineteenth Judicial District Court, Lincoln Comity, suppressing a statement of Benedict Hermes (Hermes). We affirm.

We address the following issues on appeal:

1. Did the District Court err in suppressing Hermes’ statement after finding that the statement was involuntary?

2. Did the District Court err in determining that the State could not use Hermes’ statement for impeachment purposes?

In September of 1993, Detective Craig Martin (Martin) of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received information from Jeff Wedel (Wedel), a social worker…