The high court handed down the opinion in Corley v. U.S. this week, and reversed a bank robbery conviction. At issue, the prompt presentment requirement, which requires arresting officials to bring an arrestee before a magistrate without undue delay.
In the Corley case, Mr. Corley was arrested for bank robbery and held without seeing a judge or a magistrate for thirty hours, while the FBI interrogated him about the robbery. Ultimately, Corley confessed and was convicted. The Supreme Court threw the conviction out this week due to the unlawful thirty hour unnecessary delay. In doing so, the Court has breathed new life into the McNabb-Mallory rule, which in essence allows the government a six-hour delay in bringing a suspect before a magistrate. After the six hour point, even voluntary confessions may now create suppression issues.
Score one for the rule of law!
