Mentally Retarded Defendant Incompetent to Waive Miranda Rights and Confess to Murders; Ruling Not Disturbed

Illinois v. Braggs, 810 N.E.2d 472 (Ill. 2004)

The Illinois Supreme Court reversed the conviction of a criminal defendant who was mentally retarded after it found that she was incompetent to waive her Miranda rights.  As a result, the confessions she had given the police were suppressed and a new trial was required if the state wished to continue to prosecute her for a pair of murders that occurred in a Chicago apartment where she was present...

Found in DMHL Volume 24 Issue 2