People v. Kingston

Chief Judge Desmond (dissenting).

Defendant’s statements were in no sense “confessions ”. In common speech as in law a confession is “an acknowledgment * * * in express terms, of the fact of guilt ”, “a direct acknowledgment of guilt made by the defendant in a criminal prosecution ” (Richardson, Evidence [8th ed.], § 331; People v. Bretagna, 298 N. Y. 323, 325, 326; People v. Harris, 306 N. Y. 345, 350). For the protection of this defendant, on trial for a repulsive crime, it was imperative that it be clear to the jury that defendant, while he had disclosed his version of the infliction of…