2021 -- H 6410

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LC002942

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2021

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO CRIMINAL PROCEDURE -- ARREST

     Introduced By: Representatives Williams, Morales, Henries, Knight, Potter, Ajello,
Alzate, Casimiro, Craven, and McEntee

     Date Introduced: June 09, 2021

     Referred To: House Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Chapter 12-7 of the General Laws entitled "Arrest" is hereby amended by

adding thereto the following section:

     12-7-23. Interrogations -- Prohibition of deceptive practices.

     (a) Definitions. As used in this section the following words and phrases shall have the

following meanings:

     (1) "Custodial interrogation" means any interrogation by any law enforcement officer or

peace officer as defined in § 12-7-2, of any suspect or arrestee, during which a reasonable person

in the subject’s position would consider themselves to be in the custody of law enforcement and

during which, a question is asked that is reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response.

     (2) "Deception" means the knowing communication of false facts about evidence or

unauthorized statements regarding leniency by a law enforcement officer or juvenile officer to a

subject of custodial interrogation.

     (3) "Impaired, intellectual disability or mental disability" means a mental disorder in which

the capacity of a person to exercise self-control or judgment in the conduct of his or her affairs and

social relations, or to care for his or her own personal needs, is significantly impaired.

     (4) "Juvenile" means any person under the age of eighteen (18) years of age.

     (5) "Place of detention" means any police station or building owned, used or operated by

any law enforcement agency in which a person is or may be held in connection with criminal

charges.

     (6) "Serious mental illness" means an illness which is biologically based, severe in degree,

and persistent in duration, which causes a substantially diminished level of functioning in the

primary aspects of daily living and an inability to cope with the ordinary demands of life, which

may lead to an inability to maintain stable adjustment and independent functioning without long-

term treatment and support and which may be of lifetime duration. Serious mental illness includes

schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, as well as a spectrum of psychotic and other severely disabling

psychiatric diagnostic categories, but does not include infirmities of aging or a primary diagnosis

of mental retardation, alcohol or drug abuse, or anti-social behavior.

     (7) "Substance abuse withdrawal" means the abnormal physical or psychological features

that follow the abrupt discontinuation of a drug that has the capability of producing physical

dependence.

     (b) Any oral, written, or sign language confession or statement which implicates a suspect,

who at the time of the interrogation was a juvenile, or who suffered from impaired, intellectual or

mental disability, or suffered from serious mental illness or substance abuse withdrawal, made as

a result of a custodial interrogation conducted by law enforcement at a place of detention, shall be

presumed by to be inadmissible as evidence against the person making the confession or statement,

if during the interrogation, a law enforcement officer knowingly engaged in deception in obtaining

the confession or statement.

     (c) The presumption of inadmissibility of a confession or statement under this section,

when such confession or statement was procured through the use of deception, may be overcome

by a preponderance of the evidence that the confession or statement was voluntarily given, based

on the totality of the circumstances.

     (d) The burden of proving that the confession or statement was given voluntarily shall be

on the state or other prosecuting authority.

     (e) Any objection or claim that the state or prosecuting authority has failed to call all

material witnesses on the issue of voluntariness of the confession or statement, must be made at or

before any trial and failure to raise the issue will be a bar to raising the issue on appeal.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO CRIMINAL PROCEDURE -- ARREST

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     This act would make any confession or incriminating statement made by a suspect or

arrestee in a criminal charge, presumptively inadmissible if made by a juvenile, or by a person who

suffers from impaired/mental disability, serious mental disability or by someone suffering from

substance abuse withdrawal, if the statement was procured during a custodial interrogation and the

law enforcement officer used deception in order to procure it.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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LC002942

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