Alexander v. Connecticut

LUMBARD, Circuit Judge As instructed by the Supreme Court in Meachum v. Alexander, 496 U.S. 914, 110 L. Ed. 2d 628, 110 S. Ct. 2607 (1990) we reconsider, in light of Illinois v. Perkins, 496 U.S. 292, 110 L. Ed. 2d 243, 110 S. Ct. 2394 (1990), decided one week earlier, Alexander's appeal from the denial by the district court for the District of Connecticut of Alexander's petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The district court denied Alexander's claim that the admission of his second confession made to a friend during his imprisonment, on other charges, violated his fifth amendment right to the assistance of counsel in such a custodial investigation. We reversed and directed the issuance of the writ, in Alexander v. Connecticut, 876 F.2d 277 (2d Cir. 1989). In Illinois v. Perkins, the Supreme Court pointed out that, in cases where a confession is made in prison, there is a heavy burden on the state to show that coercion played no part in the making of such confession. The state can meet that burden by showing that the confession is freely given to someone who is trusted by the defendant, even though such receiver of the confession is acting in cooperation with the police.