Beaty v. Stewart, 303 F.3d 975 (9th Cir. 2002), cert. denied, Stewart v. Beaty, 123 S. Ct. 2073 (2003); 71(44) U.S. Law Week 3715 (May 20, 2003)
The Supreme Court declined to review a decision by the Ninth Circuit that permitted a criminal defendant to obtain a new hearing on whether his confession had been involuntary under the Fifth Amendment. The defendant had been convicted of murder partly on the strength of a prison psychiatrist's testimony regarding a confession the defendant made to him after a group therapy session. The Ninth Circuit held the defendant was entitled to a hearing on whether he reasonably believed his statements to the psychiatrist were protected by a confidentiality agreement he had signed that promised that "all group communication" would be kept confidential...