State v. Green

The defendant was convicted of the crime of murder in the first degree and was sentenced to suffer the death penalty.

1,2. The pivotal question in the case is whether the trial court erred in the admission of defendant’s written confession. The offer in evidence of this confession presented a preliminary question of mixed law and fact for the court to decide. It was called upon to determine whether the State had established prima facie that the confession was freely and voluntarily made and was not the result of the influence of fear, hope or promise of benefit held ont to accused by a third…