Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Keith Lamar Foster

Summary

In this concurring opinion, Justice Wecht agrees that Keith Foster’s statement was not involuntary under the Fifth Amendment, despite police deception about his status as a suspect. The opinion emphasizes that Foster did not preserve a distinct claim under Article I, Section 9 of the Pennsylvania Constitution and that the decision does not resolve whether such deception could violate the state constitution. Justice Wecht also notes that constitutionally permissible deception may nevertheless be unwise and supports potential legislative reforms.

Holdings

1. Falsely telling a suspect that he is not a suspect, by itself, does not render the suspect's resulting statement involuntary under the Fifth Amendment.
2. Foster waived his distinct claim that the statement was involuntary under Article I, Section 9 of the Pennsylvania Constitution because he did not comply with the issue-preservation rule requiring a litigant to assert in the trial court that the state provision should be interpreted more expansively than its federal counterpart and to provide reasons for doing so.

Questions Presented

1. Whether falsely telling a suspect that he is not a suspect, standing alone, renders a resulting confession involuntary under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
2. Whether the Pennsylvania Constitution imposes a more protective limitation on police deception during interrogation was not decided because Foster failed to preserve the distinct state constitutional claim.

Disposition

other