15-08-2013, 01:28 AM
Regarding the section on Miranda, here's what William Alexander told Posner. I don't know if it's true or not:
"In Texas, an oral statement under duress was no good. We had Miranda before the Supreme Court handed it down for the rest of the country. We had to inform that he did not have to make any statement, and that any he did make had to be voluntary, witnessed, reduced to writing, and could be used against him. So our questions for him were strictly to get information, but there was no way they could be used in court....Even if we gave him the proper warning, and then reduced his statement to writing, if he then refused to sign it in the presence of a witness, it was useless. That's how strict the Texas law was...That's why it was not important to record or transcribe the discussions."
"In Texas, an oral statement under duress was no good. We had Miranda before the Supreme Court handed it down for the rest of the country. We had to inform that he did not have to make any statement, and that any he did make had to be voluntary, witnessed, reduced to writing, and could be used against him. So our questions for him were strictly to get information, but there was no way they could be used in court....Even if we gave him the proper warning, and then reduced his statement to writing, if he then refused to sign it in the presence of a witness, it was useless. That's how strict the Texas law was...That's why it was not important to record or transcribe the discussions."