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Beecher v. Alabama, 408 U.S. 234 (1972)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Beecher v. Alabama, 408 U.S. 234 (1972)
Beecher v. Alabama No. 71-6497 Decided June 26, 1972 408 U.S. 234
ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE
SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA
Syllabus
After this Court reversed petitioner’s 1964 murder conviction on the ground that written confessions used as evidence in his trial were involuntary as the products of gross coercion, and thus violated due process, petitioner was reindicted, retried, and convicted after an oral confession had been admitted into evidence. That confession had been made to a hospital doctor one hour after petitioner’s arrest, while he was in extreme pain from a gunshot wound and under the influence of morphine.
Held: Petitioner’s oral confession was also invalid, having been the product of gross coercion and part of the same "stream of events" that necessitated invalidation of the written confessions.
Certiorari granted; 288 Ala. 1, 256 So.2d 154, reversed.
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Chicago:
U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Beecher v. Alabama, 408 U.S. 234 (1972) in 408 U.S. 234 Original Sources, accessed August 30, 2025, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=XVNKK53AUXA5HN9.
MLA:
U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Beecher v. Alabama, 408 U.S. 234 (1972), in 408 U.S. 234, Original Sources. 30 Aug. 2025. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=XVNKK53AUXA5HN9.
Harvard:
U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Beecher v. Alabama, 408 U.S. 234 (1972). cited in 1972, 408 U.S. 234. Original Sources, retrieved 30 August 2025, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=XVNKK53AUXA5HN9.
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