Justice on Trial Season 1 Episode 2

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Justice on Trial Season 1 Episode 2  #JusticeonTrial #JusticeonTrialSeason1 #ShowMoviesTV  🎞 Please join  https://t.me/CinemaSeriesUSFilm

Transcript

00:00You

00:18Why

00:20You know very well why

00:22My mom gave me that car

00:24Now you're giving it to us

00:26Maybe we should just you know we should shut up Tim

00:28This is the plan

00:31I'm sorry Chris

00:33But our dealer is gonna kill us if we don't come up with the money

00:38I thought we were friends

00:42Well that's what makes this so hard

00:50Look I'm just trying to get my car back out of the impound

00:53I already got it sold

00:55Well here's the problem that we have Mr. Dixon

00:57We know that you falsified a driver's license with Chris hammer's name in your photo

01:02You forged his signature and tried to sell a stolen car

01:07Wasn't stolen

01:08Chris is a friend of mine

01:10He asked me to sell it for him

01:12Which brings us to problem number two

01:14Chris hammer has been reported missing by his mother

01:16So

01:17Either you call your friend and have him come down here and

01:21Straighten all this out or I'm gonna have to arrest you on charges of forgery

01:25I mean I think Chris is out of town

01:29Cut the crap Mr. Dixon

01:31This video footage of you trying to sell the car at the dealer

01:33He ID'd you already

01:35Even if your story is true

01:36You still tried to falsify documents and sign them for financial gain

01:42But if you confess to the forgery

01:44I can make things go a lot easier with the D.A.

01:46Maybe he can look the other way on the stolen car

01:48What about my rights? Don't I get a lawyer? Something?

01:53What you get is a chance to put all this behind you without making it a lot worse

01:59Or we can do this the hard way

02:02It's your choice

02:03I'm Judy Scheindler

02:09Before I was a judge on TV

02:11I was a judge in New York City for 15 years

02:14And a lawyer for 17 years before that

02:17While serving on both sides of the bench

02:19I learned that justice doesn't always end up feeling just

02:23Sometimes the impact of one decision by a police officer, a lawyer, or even a judge

02:29Can change the way justice is delivered

02:31We're going to demonstrate this by taking landmark cases from actual crimes committed by real people

02:39And we'll recreate them without trial lawyers

02:42And yours truly is the trial judge

02:44While we're not going to recreate the trials verbatim

02:47All the court's ultimate decisions are accurate

02:50It will be up to you to decide whether the case was fair and the outcome just

02:55Real cases, actual lawyers, surprising verdicts

03:01Justice on trial

03:03Justice on trial

03:07This episode of Justice on trial focuses on the constitutional protection

03:12Safeguarding a person's right against self-incrimination

03:16Dating back to the 1966 case of Miranda versus Arizona

03:20These so-called Miranda rights must be read to each and every person in America who was arrested

03:28Simply put, they are the right to remain silent

03:31So that you don't have to say anything to police that could be used against you in a court

03:37If an officer doesn't read you these rights, anything that you say, including a confession, can't be used to convict you at a trial

03:45But like everything else in the law, the devil's in the details

03:50Okay, enough talk, let's get back to the crime

04:00Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty

04:02Where am I?

04:05What's happening to me?

04:08It doesn't matter now, dude

04:10It's the end

04:12Don't do this

04:14I'll do anything, please

04:16Let's just get this over with

04:21I'll tell you what

04:23I got a gift for you

04:25A little something to remember me by

04:27I don't remember me by

04:32Your last cigarette

04:35You're welcome

04:57I just want to say

05:10I'm sorry

05:13Come on

05:15No, come on, no, no, come on

05:18I can't

05:23I'm sorry

05:27I think I should be deep enough

05:43Yeah, as long as it's deep enough for him to stay put

05:45All right, we're ready for you, buddy

05:59I can't do this

06:01I can't do this

06:03No

06:07No, come on, guy

06:11Come on

06:13God

06:15I'm gonna have to put that out now

06:17Come on

06:19No, please

06:21Please

06:22Come on

06:50Father,

06:52Yeah, I should do it

06:53Just get the hell out of here

07:02Thanks for the car

07:10Archie Dixon ultimately confessed to the murder of Chris Hammer

07:13And was put on trial

07:15But before that trial happened, Dixon's lawyers said that his confession

07:19violated his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, they said that Dixon was not properly given his Miranda rights. We will recreate that hearing that determine whether Dixon's confession could be used in his eventual trial for murder.

07:35This is a preliminary or pretrial hearing to determine the admissibility of a confession that was made by the defendant during the course of a murder investigation. We are here to determine whether or not that confession was taken in violation of Mr. Dixon's Fifth Amendment rights. Counsel, are you ready?

07:53I am, your honor

07:56Note your appearance, please

07:58For the state of Ohio, I'm Dan Menser

08:00Morning, your honor, Larry Backman on behalf of the defendant, Archie Dixon, who is present in court.

08:04Mr. Menser, call your first witness.

08:05Mr. Menser, call your first witness.

08:06The prosecution calls Detective Ron Scanlon.

08:13Kevin, swear the witness, please.

08:14Yes. Raise your right hand, please. You swear to tell the truth in these matters today?

08:18I do.

08:19Thank you. Have a seat.

08:21You may inquire, sir.

08:22Good afternoon, Detective.

08:24In late September, were you assigned to investigate the disappearance of a man named Christopher Hammer?

08:30Yes.

08:31Could you please describe for the court exactly how it was you came to be assigned to that case?

08:35His mother contacted us. She hadn't seen her son in several days, and she was concerned.

08:41She told us that he was currently living with his two friends, Tim Hoffner and Archie Dixon, at the home of Archie Dixon's girlfriend.

08:49Detective, when you're assigned to investigate the disappearance of an individual, do you put out some sort of alert to neighboring counties to let them know that this is a person to be on the lookout for?

08:59Yes, sir.

09:00And did you do that in this case?

09:01Yes.

09:02Now, Detective, I want to draw your attention to October 25th.

09:05Did something happen with respect to your investigation into the disappearance of Christopher Hammer?

09:10Yes. On October 25th, we received another call from Mr. Hammer's mother.

09:15According to her, someone had spotted her son's car on a lot of a used car dealership.

09:20So we went to the dealership, and we spoke to a man named Ron Parker, who told us that he did buy the car from a man who was claiming to be Chris Hammer.

09:29Now, after you got the information from Ron Parker at the car dealership that a man who claimed to be Chris Hammer had sold him the car, but the description didn't sound like Chris Hammer, did you prepare any type of photographic array or anything?

09:44Yes, sir. I was going to prepare photos of Hoffner and Dixon to show the car dealer to see if perhaps it wasn't Hoffner or Dixon who had sold him Hammer's car and were claiming to be Chris Hammer.

09:57The car dealer immediately pointed to Archie Dixon as the man who identified himself as Chris Hammer and sold him Chris Hammer's car.

10:06Thank you, Detective. I have no further questions.

10:08You may inquire, sir.

10:09Thank you, John.

10:10All right. So, Detective Scanlon, let me see if I have this right.

10:13In terms of your role in this case, you began this case looking into a forgery of a title on a car. Do I have that right?

10:21Yes.

10:22And you also had information suggesting that Mr. Hammer had disappeared. That came from Hammer's mother. Yes?

10:30Yes.

10:31And so, as I understand it, your role, your participation was limited to an interview at the police station when Archie Dixon showed up to claim a car that didn't belong to him.

10:44Correct.

10:45Correct.

10:46If you confess to the forgery, I can make things go a lot easier with the DA. Maybe he can look the other way on the stolen car.

10:53What about my rights? Don't I get a lawyer? Something?

10:57What you get is a chance to put all this behind you without making it a lot worse. Or we can do this the hard way. It's your choice.

11:07All right. I forged a signature.

11:13Well, Mr. Archie Dixon, I'm placing you under arrest for a forgery. Place your hands behind your back, please.

11:20What? Right now?

11:21Hands behind your back.

11:22Damn.

11:23Standard procedure.

11:25So what? I get fingerprinted or something now?

11:31You know, before we get to any of that, there's a question of what happened to your so-called friend, Chris Hammer.

11:36I don't know nothing about that. He said he was leaving town.

11:39He's been missing for two months. And I'm looking at a guy who says he knows him, stole his car, and then tried to sell it and pocket the cash.

11:46I don't know nothing about where he is. I was doing him a favor trying to sell his car. Look, I swear.

11:56What's Tim doing here? What's going on?

11:59Well, apparently Tim has something he wants to get off his chest.

12:08In order to claim that car, he had forged documents. Do I have that right?

12:12Yes, sir.

12:13But you used the forgery investigation as a pretext because you were hoping you would get some answers regarding Hammer's disappearance from my client. Isn't that right?

12:27Sure. Yes.

12:28No further questions.

12:29Your excuse, sir.

12:30Thank you, Your Honor.

12:32Mr. Mensah, please call your next witness.

12:34The state calls Kristen Wilkerson.

12:40You may inquire.

12:41Thank you, Your Honor.

12:42Ms. Wilkerson, how old are you?

12:4325 years old.

12:44Do you live here in Toledo?

12:46Yes.

12:47I'm living in Toledo.

12:48I was living with my boyfriend, Archie Dixon.

12:50Okay.

12:51I want to call your attention to this past summer.

12:53You said you were living with Archie Dixon.

12:55Was there anybody else living with the two of you this past summer?

12:58Yes.

12:59We were living with Archie's friends, Chris and Timothy.

13:02Now, what were the relationship between Archie Dixon and Chris Hammer?

13:07They were all friends.

13:08Now, did you listen to a conversation that involved Archie Dixon about Chris?

13:14Yes.

13:15Could you just tell the court what occurred in that conversation?

13:18Yeah.

13:19Him and Tim were over at the house one night, and the two of them got to drinking, trying

13:25to figure out ways to make money.

13:27I heard them talking about Hammer's car, how much money they could get for it.

13:31Um, so the next morning, Archie told me that he was gonna get Hammer tonight.

13:37And what did you interpret get Hammer to mean?

13:42To kill him.

13:45Now, what happened later on that night?

13:48Well, when Chris came home that night, they were ready for him.

13:53So they jumped in, and then they scooped up Chris, and they put him in the back of the car.

13:58And then the three of us drove off.

14:01Who was driving?

14:02I was, but Archie was telling me where to go.

14:04And then we got to the edge of some farm field, and he told me to stop.

14:09And what happened after you stopped near the farm field?

14:12They dragged him out of the car, and then they grabbed the shovel and took him towards the field.

14:18Hold on, guy.

14:20Have you seen Chris since that night?

14:23No.

14:25And after that happened, were you in fact arrested?

14:30Yeah.

14:31And you were charged with acting in concert in this murder?

14:35Yes.

14:36And are you testifying today pursuant to a cooperation agreement with my office?

14:40Yes.

14:41Thank you, Ms. Wilkerson. I have no further questions, Your Honor.

14:43You may inquire.

14:44So, Ms. Wilkerson, let me start out with the cooperation agreement.

14:49The prosecutor here initially charged you with aggravated murder, correct?

14:54Yes.

14:55And you knew that was a death penalty sentence, is that right?

14:58Yes.

14:59They could execute you for that, correct?

15:01Yes.

15:02And so you would tell this man anything he wants to hear in order to walk away from this case.

15:07Is that a fair statement?

15:08Objection.

15:09Overruled.

15:10Well...

15:11You would lie to him in order to walk away from this, yes?

15:13No.

15:14Well, you lied to police telling them you knew nothing about the disappearance, yes?

15:15Yes.

15:16You knew exactly what your roommates and your boyfriend discussed.

15:21No.

15:22You were wrong with that.

15:23Yes.

15:24And so you would tell this man anything he wants to hear in order to walk away from this case.

15:27Is that a fair statement?

15:28Objection.

15:29Overruled.

15:30Well...

15:31You would lie to him in order to walk away from this, yes?

15:32No.

15:33Well, you lied to police telling them you knew nothing about the disappearance, yes?

15:37Yes.

15:38You knew exactly what your roommates and your boyfriend discussed.

15:43But you decided to lie.

15:46Is that right?

15:47Yeah.

15:48And so we have only your word that you're now telling us the truth today rather than lying,

15:55despite the fact that your wife's on the line.

15:57Do I have that right?

15:59Yes.

16:00No further questions.

16:01Witnesses excused.

16:02Thank you very much.

16:04Next witness.

16:06State calls Detective Philip Kilikowski.

16:10You may inquire, sir.

16:12Thank you, Your Honor.

16:13Detective, were you involved in the arrest of a man named Archie Dixon?

16:17Yes.

16:18Please explain for the court how you got involved in the arrest of Archie Dixon.

16:22Detective Scanlon and I had been working on an investigation involving the disappearance of a man named Christopher Hammer.

16:28We got a positive identification from a used car dealer that Mr. Archie Dixon committed a forgery.

16:34Now, Detective, after you arrested Archie Dixon for forgery, was it just your intention to process him for the forgery or did you have any other goal in mind?

16:43We were hoping to get some information on the disappearance of Mr. Hammer.

16:47Now, you've been a detective for how many years?

16:50About ten years.

16:51So you understand that when you have a suspect that's in custody that you have to read him certain rights before you can question him, right?

16:58That's correct.

16:59Clearly, Mr. Dixon was in custody after you arrested him, right?

17:02Yes, sir.

17:03Did you read him his rights before you began to speak with him?

17:07No.

17:08Now, is there a reason why you didn't read Mr. Dixon his Miranda rights before you started to speak with him even though he was in custody?

17:17We decided not to Miranda-ize him because we thought he wouldn't want to talk to us if we did.

17:21Now, did Archie Dixon speak to you after you began to speak with him without having Miranda-ized him?

17:27Yes, he told us he had no idea where Chris Hammer was, but he did admit to selling Chris's car, but he told us he got permission from Chris to sell the car.

17:38Now, Detective Kolakowski, who is the other suspect in this case?

17:42Timothy Hoffner.

17:52So, Tim, you fine with me recording this?

17:56I...

17:57I...

17:58Sure.

17:59I got nothing to hide.

18:04And you're here voluntarily?

18:06Yeah.

18:07Yeah.

18:08I...

18:09I just want to see justice for Chris.

18:11So, on the night of September 21st, where were you?

18:17I was outside in Chris's car, outside the apartment I share with Archie Dixon.

18:23And what happened?

18:24I was with Archie's girlfriend.

18:26We were partying and waiting for Archie to show up.

18:31And then all of a sudden, Archie pops open the trunk and dumps Chris in it.

18:38What did Archie say he was up to?

18:41That we were going to get what's coming to us tonight.

18:44And I asked, what does that mean?

18:47And he said, Chris is money.

18:49Did you need money, Tim?

18:51Well, we had our dealer quite a bit, and we didn't have anything coming in.

18:55So, yeah.

18:56But I would never take it like that.

19:00Not like that.

19:03Like what?

19:04Like the way Archie killed him.

19:06Now, are there any investigative techniques that you have learned in the police academy to try and get a suspect to confess or talk about a crime that they've committed?

19:22Yes, absolutely.

19:23And did you use one of those here?

19:25Yes.

19:26When you have two suspects in custody that are suspected of committing a crime together, we're taught to pin one against another and try to make them believe it's in their best interest to confess.

19:37Okay, here's the deal.

19:49We got Tim in the next room.

19:51He's giving you up.

19:52What the hell are you talking about?

19:54Chris.

19:55Tim says you killed him.

19:57I ain't killed nobody.

19:59Chris was a friend of mine.

20:01I notice you're talking about Chris in the past tense now.

20:04No, I just haven't heard from him in a while.

20:07Mm.

20:08Then you should hear this.

20:09Tim told us about the beating at the apartment.

20:12The body in the woods.

20:14You buried him alive.

20:17He's lying.

20:19He's just trying to save his own ass.

20:22How come he knows where the body's buried if he didn't do it?

20:26Let me give you a little piece of advice.

20:29The first one of you guys who confesses to what we all know already happened here,

20:33he's gonna get to deal with the DA.

20:35The other guy, he gets the electric chair.

20:39So, you need to decide whether you're coming in first or last.

20:52Did that interrogation technique work in getting Mr. Dixon to start talking about the disappearance of Chris?

20:57Not at that time.

20:58So, what did you do to Archie Dixon at that time?

21:02We took him back to jail.

21:04Now, after taking him back to jail, did you have a reason to believe that you wanted to talk to Archie Dixon again?

21:10Absolutely.

21:11And once he was in the precinct, did you read him anything?

21:14Yes.

21:15What did you read him at that time?

21:17His Miranda warnings.

21:20I want to be first.

21:25I want to talk to you guys.

21:27Just for clarity then, I'm advising you of your rights.

21:32You have the right to remain silent.

21:34Anything you say can and will be used against you.

21:37You have the right for an attorney to be present.

21:40Do you understand these rights?

21:42Yes.

21:43My lawyer said it's okay to talk to you guys now.

21:46Because you'll give me a better deal.

21:49Yeah.

21:50We'll make sure the DA knows that you cooperated.

21:52That goes a long way, let me tell you.

21:54Alright.

21:56Okay.

21:57So, tell us what happened in the apartment.

22:01Chris came for money.

22:03He's always flashing it around, playing the big guy.

22:06Hitting on my girlfriend.

22:08We was barely getting by.

22:11He's always coming over partying with Tim and my girl.

22:13While I'm footing the bill.

22:15Even though he's the one with the rich mom.

22:17So, I had nothing.

22:19You know?

22:20But still, he wanted what was mine.

22:23So, enough's enough.

22:25Me and Tim decided we were going to get what was coming to us.

22:29So you killed him?

22:31One thing led to another.

22:33It's not like I ever did anything like that before.

22:37Tell us what happened in the woods.

22:40Well, Chris is in the trunk.

22:43And we was digging the hole.

22:45And I come back and...

22:47There's Chris.

22:50Still hitting on my girlfriend.

22:52Right up to the very end.

22:55So I'm like, time's up, douchebag.

22:58And we buried him.

23:00Alive?

23:02No.

23:03Dirt killed him.

23:05Took a few minutes, but...

23:08He stopped twitching after a while.

23:09And we got out of there.

23:13He got what he deserved.

23:17All we got...

23:19Was his car.

23:20And then, after he waived his rights, did Archie Dixon talk to you about the disappearance of Chris Hammer?

23:32He told us every single detail.

23:34Now, Detective Kolakowski, take us from the beginning.

23:40What did Archie Dixon tell you about the murder of their friend Chris Hammer?

23:46He said it started when he and Hoffner were trying to figure out how they could get some money.

23:51He said they talked about stealing Chris' car and selling it, but figured they needed to get his identification first.

23:57And they figured the best way to do that was to kill Chris Hammer.

24:02So, they had no real plan, according to Dixon.

24:05He told us that they just jumped him and started beating him with a wine bottle.

24:09And they tried to break his neck, but they couldn't kill him.

24:12Finally, they decided the best way to kill Mr. Hammer was to bury him underground.

24:17Did Mr. Dixon tell you what his friend Chris Hammer was doing as he was trying to kill him with his bare hands?

24:30He was crying and begging for his life.

24:33Did he tell you what they did after that?

24:35They went back to the house to clean up and had a few drinks before going to bed.

24:40Thank you, Detective. No more questions.

24:45Okay, you may inquire, sir.

24:47So, Detective, would it be correct for me to assume that at the time you arrested my client on November 9th for forgery,

24:57your real focus in the case was the disappearance of Mr. Hammer?

25:02That's correct.

25:03And when you made the arrest, you intended to question him about the disappearance of Mr. Hammer, correct?

25:10Correct.

25:11So, I just want to make clear for the record, sir.

25:15When you sat him down in an interview room at the station, you made a choice.

25:20Your choice was, I'm going to talk to him without giving him Miranda warnings.

25:25Yes.

25:26And in that interview on November 9th, you decided, in compounding the Miranda violation, to tell this individual,

25:37The first one on the bus gets the deal in the case, yes?

25:40Yes.

25:41And what else did you say to him?

25:44I told him that the suspect who doesn't get the deal will pay full price, whatever that may be.

25:50And you had no authority to offer him a deal, did you?

25:54Not at that time.

25:55You, in effect, lied to my client, didn't you?

25:58Yes.

25:59So after this first interview, he, in effect, decided not to talk to you about Hammer's disappearance, correct?

26:06Correct.

26:07And so, a few hours later, you brought him back from county jail, yes?

26:11Yeah.

26:12And this time, you Miranda-ized him, yes?

26:15This time I did.

26:16And then you got a full confession.

26:18Full confession.

26:19And in your mind, sir, your failure to Miranda-ize him in the first interview,

26:24and your choice to Miranda-ize him in the second interview, do the ends justify your means?

26:30Objection.

26:31Sustained.

26:32No further questions.

26:33Anything else?

26:34If I may, Your Honor, do you have to always tell the truth to a suspect in order to get them to volunteer a statement?

26:41No, I don't.

26:43I have no further questions, sir.

26:44Witnesses excused.

26:45Thank you very much.

26:46Do you have any other witnesses, sir?

26:48No, Your Honor.

26:49The state rests.

26:50Counselor?

26:51And for purposes of this suppression hearing, Your Honor, I am going to call my client.

26:57Mr. Dixon, take the stand, please.

27:04You may inquire.

27:05All right.

27:06So, Mr. Dixon, let's go to November 9th.

27:09On November 9th, were you arrested?

27:12Yes.

27:13And what's your understanding of what you were arrested for?

27:16For forgery and connection to the sale of a stolen car.

27:22And when you were arrested, were you again taken to a police station?

27:26Yes.

27:27Were you questioned by a police officer, a detective?

27:30Yes.

27:31And prior to his questioning you, did he advise you of your Miranda rights and tell you that anything you say to him can be used against you in a court of law?

27:42No.

27:43No.

27:44And did he try and question you by telling you the first person to get on the bus and confess will get a deal in this case?

27:56Said I wouldn't get the gas chamber.

27:58Did you feel coerced as a result of that?

28:02Absolutely.

28:03And by the way, that first interview on November 9th, they kept you there from 11.30 in the morning to 3.30 in the afternoon, did they not?

28:12Yeah, then they took me back to county.

28:14And when you went to county, were you there for a few hours and then brought back to that same interview room by that same detective?

28:22I was.

28:23And at this point in time, what did the detective say to you?

28:28When I was brought back, they read me the, uh...

28:31Miranda?

28:32Yes.

28:33Did you decide to talk to them this time?

28:35After learning that they had found Hammer's body and that Wilkerson and Hoffner had said that it was me that murdered him, yeah, I did.

28:45And you confessed to your role in the offense, is that right?

28:48Along with Wilkerson and Hoffner.

28:51No further questions.

28:52You may inquire.

28:53Thank you, Your Honor.

28:54Mr. Dixon, I want to pick things up right where Mr. Backman left off.

28:58That is late in the evening on November 9th.

29:01That was the time in the evening when you first confessed to murdering your friend Chris Hammer.

29:07Correct?

29:08Correct.

29:09Before you confessed to murdering Chris Hammer to those detectives, they warned you that you didn't have to speak with them, right?

29:16The second time, yes.

29:17Before you confessed to murdering Chris Hammer, those detectives told you that anything you told them could be used against you in a court of law, right?

29:28Yes.

29:29Before you confessed to murdering Chris Hammer, they told you that you had a right to an attorney.

29:33Right.

29:34Now, after you received all of those rights, you decided to waive those rights, correct?

29:39I did.

29:40But you chose to waive those rights only after hearing that Tim Hoffner had already been implicating you in claiming that you committed the murder, right?

29:51Right.

29:52And it was only after learning that Tim Hoffner had actually confessed, implicated you, and was still out of jail that you believed that might be my ticket out of jail, right?

30:03Yeah.

30:04And that, the ticket out of jail, is the reason you freely and voluntarily waived your rights and made a statement to the police about what you did to Chris Hammer, right?

30:14Yeah.

30:16A couple of questions on redirect.

30:18You may inquire, sir.

30:20So, Mr. Dixon, on November 9th, during the second interview, when they're telling you, I'm giving you your Miranda rights now, we want you to talk to us, and you decided to do that.

30:32Did it scare you when they said they had found the body, and now they want to talk?

30:37Did those words play in your head?

30:40I'd better get on that bus, and I'd better be the first one in to confess in order to save myself the needle.

30:47Sure.

30:48No further questions.

30:49Witnesses excused.

30:55Mr. Manser, would you like to make a brief closing argument?

30:58I would, Your Honor. Thank you.

30:59Your Honor, let's be clear here.

31:01There were two statements that Archie Dixon made to police detectives on November 9th.

31:06The first statement he made after not having received Miranda rights.

31:10You get no argument from the state.

31:12We recognize that any statement he made in that first session should be suppressed.

31:17However, later on in the evening, upon getting new information, the police detectives took him out, and we know this, that they read him his rights.

31:27He waived those rights, and then he confessed.

31:29There was a reason why he chose that moment to waive his rights, and that is simply the oldest reason we know to get out of jail.

31:36That's why he did it.

31:38That's why he freely and voluntarily waived the rights that he was aware he had and agreed to speak to the police.

31:44And that's why the confession was obtained through lawful and constitutional means, and the court should not suppress it.

31:51Thank you, Your Honor.

31:53Thank you, Your Honor.

31:54So, we have an arrest on November 9th.

31:56We move on to the first interview at 1130.

32:01And in an effort to avoid having Mr. Dixon clam up, they decide, we're not going to Mirandize him.

32:08And the excuse given by the officer is, we weren't going to use that information.

32:14We just wanted to hear what he had to say.

32:17That's utter nonsense.

32:19And then in an effort to save themselves, they bring him back after receiving, yet again, more information about the body, where it is.

32:28They bring him back, and lo and behold, they've worn my client down.

32:33They get a full confession.

32:36That full confession is tainted.

32:39I say again, Judge, as I ask the detective the question, the end doesn't justify the means.

32:47Thank you, Your Honor.

32:49We will now take a brief recess, and I will return with my verdict.

32:54Court come to order.

32:59Your Honorable Judge Judy Scheinling presiding.

33:03I will now render my verdict in this matter.

33:08So what do we have?

33:10We have the initial two encounters where the defendant made no statement.

33:15This is not an issue of fruit of any poisonous tree.

33:18He didn't inculpate himself.

33:19It wasn't until somehow he had information, he had some information, that something had happened and said, I want to talk to you.

33:28And then they mirandized him orally and in writing.

33:33And it wasn't until after he was mirandized that he decided to confess to his participation in this horrendous crime.

33:42I am confident that he understood what those Miranda warnings were.

33:46So there is no question in my mind that he was not coerced, that he was not enticed, that he was fully mirandized, and that the motion to suppress Mr. Backman is denied.

33:56This case will proceed to trial.

33:58Confession will be admitted.

34:00Thank you very much.

34:01At the trial of Archie Dixon, his controversial confession was allowed to be introduced into evidence for the jury to consider.

34:10He was found guilty of the brutal murder of his friend, Chris Hammer, and he was sentenced to death.

34:17Dixon appealed, arguing that the trial court should not have allowed his confession to be admitted into evidence as the police had violated his rights under Miranda.

34:28Would his conviction and death sentence be overturned?

34:31Here's how it played out in the appeals court.

34:35Judge, this is case 102, Ohio v. Dixon.

34:39Thank you, Officer Britt.

34:41Counsel, please state your appearances for the record.

34:43Larry Backman, on behalf of Archie Dixon.

34:45For the state of Ohio, I'm Dan Menser.

34:47Mr. Backman, you may proceed with your opening statement.

34:51May it please the court, this is an appeal premised upon a violation of my client's Fifth Amendment rights and Sixth Amendment rights.

35:01Those violations occurred because of game playing on the part of law enforcement.

35:06They failed to give Miranda, and they questioned my client.

35:10And they get a confession because they told him, the first to get on the bus between you and your co-conspirator gets the deal.

35:20That is the very essence of an involuntary statement in violation of both my client's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

35:30And to disregard, to ignore his Sixth Amendment right for consul would be to ignore the protection that Miranda was designed to include.

35:43This court should reverse the sentence of death and find that my client's confession should have been thrown out by the lower court because it was involuntary and coerced.

35:55Submitted.

35:56Submitted.

35:57Thank you, Mr. Backman.

35:58Mr. Menser, your statement please.

35:59Thank you, Your Honor.

36:00The detectives in this case solved the murder of Christopher Hammer, and they did so by using basic and time-honored techniques.

36:09They brought him in, and Detective Kulikowski took a chance because he knew that if he was able to obtain a statement on that first encounter on November 9th, any inculpatory statement he wouldn't be able to use.

36:23But he got lucky because Archie Dixon denied having anything to do with the crime.

36:29Now, Archie Dixon came to them later on that evening and said, I heard you spoke with my friend, I want to talk to you because I want to be where I believe Tim Hoffner is, and that's out of jail.

36:41That's how we know the statement was voluntary, because he had something to gain.

36:46It was in his best interest to make that confession.

36:49There's nothing about what the detectives in this case did that was anything other than solid police work.

36:56And we have a very dangerous man who is now on death row.

36:59And we believe that this court should uphold the conviction.

37:04Thank you very much.

37:05We're going to retire you to delivery.

37:11We are not a unanimous court.

37:14Judge Acker and I are in the majority, and I will give the majority opinion.

37:18The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees that no person, while in police custody, may be interrogated without first being advised of their right to remain silent and their right to a lawyer.

37:33On November 9th, during the first interrogation, detectives failed to administer Miranda warnings for fear Mr. Dixon would exercise his right to remain silent or ask for a lawyer.

37:46During the second interrogation, Mr. Dixon was read his Miranda warnings and confessed.

37:51The decision by police to interrogate Mr. Dixon in this manner violated his constitutional rights and therefore must be suppressed.

38:03For those reasons, Mr. Dixon's conviction is reversed, his death sentence vacated, and the case is remanded to the state court,

38:13which has 180 days to retry him.

38:16But his confession is excluded.

38:19We know that Archie Dixon brutally murdered Chris Hammer.

38:26But because of one questionable decision by a detective, a killer was set free.

38:33What do you think?

38:34Is that justice?

38:36On the one hand, we have to protect abuse against law enforcement.

38:40But should a legal technicality, let a murderer escape prosecution?

38:45Don't worry!

38:46Excuse me,

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