Legal Opinion
Commonwealth v. DiGiambattista
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Decided August 16, 2004PublishedCited by 157 opinions
1Opinion of the CourtSosman, J.
The defendant, Valerio DiGiambattista, was convicted of burning a dwelling house (G. L. c. 266, § 1). That conviction rested, in large measure, on DiGiambattista’s confession to the police during an unrecorded interrogation at a fire station. It is undisputed that, in an effort to obtain his confession, the interrogating officers resorted to trickery, falsely suggesting to DiGiambattista that his presence at the scene of the fire had been captured on videotape, while simultaneously expressing sympathy for his actions and opining that he needed counselling for his alcoholism. In his subsequent…
2Cases cited43 opinions
- Miranda v. ArizonaSupreme Court of the United States · 1966
- Commonwealth v. TavaresMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1982
- Commonwealth v. BowdenMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1980
- United States v. Larry D. HallCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · 1999
- United States v. Raul Lopez-AlvarezCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 1992
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3Cited by157 opinions
- Commonwealth v. KingMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2005
- Commonwealth v. ZanettiMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2009
- Commonwealth v. Silva-SantiagoMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2009
- Commonwealth v. ScottMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2014
- Commonwealth v. BarbosaMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 2010
152 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.