Rape Sodomy Virginia Confession Warrant Attorneys Richmond City
Rape Sodomy Virginia Confession Warrant Attorneys Richmond City
MARK TAYLOR V. COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
Facts:
Defendant was convicted in a jury trial of sodomy. A detective executed the rape warrant and, accompanied by a Richmond police officer and another Salem officer, arrested defendant at his home in Richmond. On the day of trial, defendant made a motion to dismiss his arrest warrant as being improperly executed and to exclude the confession as a fruit of the unlawful arrest. The trial court denied the motion as untimely under Va. Sup. Ct. R. 3A:12(c)(1), and defendant was convicted.
Rape Sodomy Virginia Confession Warrant Attorneys
Issue:
Whether the officer violated the following provisions of Code § 19.2-76 in effect at the time of the arrest?
Discussion:
The court held that the officer’s failure to take defendant before a Richmond magistrate as required by Code § 19.2-76 was a mere procedural violation of that statute which did not prejudice defendant, and which did not involve an error of constitutional dimension giving rise to an application of the exclusionary rule. Here, contrary to the situations in the cases relied on by defendant, there was no lack of probable cause to arrest; there was no coercion, the confession being freely given during the brief trip from Richmond to Salem; there was no suggestion of bad faith by the police; and there was no inordinate delay in bringing defendant before a proper judicial officer having authority to grant bail. The police conduct was not tantamount to a Fourth Amendment violation and it would therefore be inappropriate to invoke the exclusionary rule.
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Article written by A Sris
Disclaimer:
These summaries are provided by the SRIS Law Group. They represent the firm’s unofficial views of the Justices’ opinions. The original opinions should be consulted for their authoritative content.
