Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 343 A.2d 669 (Pa. 1975). · Go Syfert
Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 343 A.2d 669 (Pa. 1975). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
435 citation events (9 in the last 25 years) across 12 distinct courts.
Strongest positive: Commonwealth v. Hailey (pa, 1977-01-28)
Treatment trajectory · 1975 → 2026 · click a year to view as-of
1975 2000 2026
Top citers, strongest first. 18 distinct citers. How cited ↗
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Commonwealth v. Hailey (2×)
Pa. · 1977 · confidence medium
The two requisite elements of proof of such a waiver on the part of a minor defendant are a showing that, 1) the accused had access to the advice of an attorney, parent or interested adult before an effective waiver may be established, see Commonwealth v. McCutchen, supra, 463 Pa. at 92-93, 343 A.2d at 670 , 14 and 2) that the consulted adult was informed as to the constitutional rights available to the minor.
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Commonwealth Ex Rel. Reyes v. Aytch
Pa. Super. Ct. · 1976 · confidence medium
See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Smith, 465 Pa. 310 , 350 A.2d 410 (Filed January 29, 1976); Commonwealth v. Chaney, 465 Pa. 407 , 350 A.2d 829 (Filed Nov. 26, 1975); Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 463 Pa. 90 , 343 A.2d 669 *293 (1975).
examined Cited as authority (rule) Commonwealth v. Stanton (6×) also: Cited "see"
Pa. · 1976 · confidence medium
Rather, the issue which was decided was that, ". . . his (McCutchen's) confession should have been suppressed because he was not given the benefit of parental or interested-adult guidance prior to giving his confession." 463 Pa. at 91 , 343 A.2d at 670 (1975).
discussed Cited "see" Commonwealth v. Carr (2×)
Pa. · 1987 · signal: see · confidence high
See Commonwealth v. Geschwendt, supra. Finally, the interested adult rule, as articulated in Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 463 Pa. 90 , 343 A.2d 669 , cert denied, 424 U.S. 934 , 96 S.Ct. 1147 , 47 L.Ed.2d 341 (1975), requires that an accused under 18 years of age may not effectively waive his constitutional rights against self incrimination and the right to counsel without an opportunity to consult with an attorney or an adult, interested in the welfare of the juvenile suspect.
discussed Cited "see" Clyde Eugene Hill v. Charles Zimmerman, the Attorney General of Pennsylvania, and District Attorney for Dauphin County (2×)
3rd Cir. · 1983 · signal: see · confidence high
See Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 463 Pa. 90 , 343 A.2d 669 , cert. denied, 424 U.S. 934 , 96 S.Ct. 1147 , 47 L.Ed.2d 341 (1975).
discussed Cited "see" Commonwealth v. Barry (2×)
Pa. · 1982 · signal: see · confidence high
See Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 463 Pa. 90 , 343 A.2d 669 (1975).
discussed Cited "see" Curtis J. Moore v. Gerard Ballone, Superintendent, Central State Hospital James P. Mitchell, Virginia State Penitentiary (2×)
4th Cir. · 1981 · signal: see · confidence high
See Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 463 Pa. 90 , 343 A.2d 669 (1975).
discussed Cited "see" Commonwealth v. Harris (2×)
Pa. · 1977 · signal: see · confidence high
See Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 463 Pa. 90 , 343 A.2d 669 (1976). .
examined Cited "see" Commonwealth v. Bridges (4×)
Pa. · 1977 · signal: see · confidence high
See Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 463 Pa. 90 , 343 A.2d 669 (1975).
examined Cited "see" Commonwealth v. Jamison (4×) also: Cited "see, e.g."
Pa. · 1977 · signal: see · confidence high
See Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 463 Pa. 90 , 343 A.2d 669 (1975).
discussed Cited "see, e.g." Nicholas v. People (2×)
Colo. · 1999 · signal: see, e.g. · confidence low
See, e.g., Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 463 Pa. 90 , 343 A.2d 669 (Pa.1975).
discussed Cited "see, e.g." Nicholas v. People (2×)
Colo. · 1999 · signal: see, e.g. · confidence low
See, e.g., Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 463 Pa. 90 , 343 A.2d 669 (Pa.1975).
cited Cited "see, e.g." Commonwealth v. Cabrera
N. Mar. I. · 1987 · signal: see, e.g. · confidence low
See, e.g., Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 343 A.2d 669 (Pa. 1975); cert. denied, 424 U.S. 934 (1975) and cases following; and.
discussed Cited "see, e.g." Commonwealth v. Horner (2×)
Pa. · 1981 · signal: see, e.g. · confidence low
See e. g., Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 463 Pa. 90 , 343 A.2d 669 , cert. denied, 424 U.S. 934 , 96 S.Ct. 1147 , 47 L.Ed.2d 341 (1975).
examined Cited "see, e.g." Commonwealth v. Brown (4×)
Pa. · 1981 · signal: see, e.g. · confidence low
See, e.g., Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 463 Pa. 90 , 343 A.2d 669 , cert. denied, 424 U.S. 934 , 96 S.Ct. 1147 , 47 L.Ed.2d 341 (1975).
discussed Cited "see, e.g." Commonwealth v. Veltre (2×)
Pa. · 1980 · signal: see also · confidence low
See also, Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 463 Pa. 90, 92-93 , 343 A.2d 669, 670 , cert. denied, 424 U.S. 934 , 96 S.Ct. 1147 , 47 L.Ed.2d 341 (1975); Commonwealth v. Starkes, 461 Pa. 178, 188 , 335 A.2d 698, 703 (1975); Commonwealth v. Chaney, 465.
discussed Cited "see, e.g." Ben Chaney v. Louie L. Wainwright, Secretary of the Florida Department of Offender Rehabilitation (2×)
5th Cir. · 1977 · signal: see also · confidence low
See also Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 463 Pa. 90 , 343 A.2d 669 (1975), cert. denied, 424 U.S. 934 , 96 S.Ct. 1147 , 47 L.Ed.2d 341 (1976) (minor’s confession held inadmissible because he did not receive opportunity to contact parent; failure of minor to request parent held irrelevant); Lewis v. State, Ind., 288 N.E.2d 138 (1972) (same). 6 But see State v. Young, 220 Kan. 541 , 552 P.2d 905, 916 (1976) (honoring minor’s request to contact father, while the “better practice,” is not constitutionally required).
discussed Cited "see, e.g." Commonwealth v. Cain (2×)
Pa. · 1977 · signal: see, e.g. · confidence low
See e. g., Commonwealth v. Chaney, 465 Pa. 407 , 350 A. *186 2d 829 (1975), where a majority of this Court held that a defendant whose case is on direct appeal is entitled to the benefit of our decision in Commonwealth v. McCutchen, 463 Pa. 90 , 343 A.2d 669 (1975); accord Commonwealth v. Little, 432 Pa. 256 , 248 A.2d 32 (1968); see Commonwealth v. Jefferson, 430 Pa. 532 , 243 A.2d 412 (1968) (Opinion of Roberts, J., dissenting, joined by Cohen and O’Brien, JJ.); Commonwealth v. Dravecz, 424 Pa. 582 , 227 A.2d 904 (1964).
Retrieving the full opinion text from the archive…
COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania
v.
Freddy McCUTCHEN, Appellant
109.
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Jul 7, 1975.
343 A.2d 669
Joseph R. Danella, Philadelphia, for appellant., F. Emmett Fitzpatrick, Dist. Atty., Steven H. Goldblatt, Asst. Dist. Atty., Chief, Appeals Div., James Garrett, Philadelphia, for appellee.
Eagen, O'Brien, Roberts, Pomeroy, Nix, Manderino, Jones.
Cited by 165 opinions  |  Published

OPINION OF THE COURT

O’BRIEN, Justice.

Appellant, Freddy McCutchen, was tried by a judge and jury and found guilty of murder in the first degree and sodomy. Post-trial motions were denied and appellant was given a life sentence, with a ten-to-twenty-year sentence on the sodomy charge to run consecutively with his life sentence. This appeal followed.

Appellant, age fifteen at the time of his arrest, argues that his confession should have been suppressed based on our. decisions of Commonwealth v. Starkes, 461 Pa. 178, 335 A.2d 698 (1975) and Commonwealth v. Roane, 459 Pa. 389, 329 A.2d 286 (1974), because he was not given the benefit of parental or interested-adult guidance prior to giving his confession. We agree.

The facts surrounding appellant’s confession are as follows. On June 8, 1972, at or about 6:30 p. m., appellant was approached by two officers of the Philadelphia Police and asked if he would accompany them to police headquarters in order that he could be interviewed concerning the death of Wilfredo Martinez. Appellant consented to go with the police and arrived at police headquarters at or about 7:00 p. m., where he was given his Miranda warnings and questioned from 7:15 p. m. until 9:25 p. m. During this time, appellant denied any involvement in the homicide, but gave the police a statement in which he said that he saw an elderly man run from the area in which the victim’s body was found.[*92] From 9:25 p. m. until 10:30 p. m., appellant was left alone and then, with his consent, was taken to a polygraph room where a pretest interview was conducted from 10:30 p. m. until 11:45 p. m. After the polygraph tests were administered, appellant was told that he was lying and at about 11:55 p. m., appellant gave an incriminating statement which was recorded in longhand and signed by appellant at 1:10 a. m. After this first confession was ended, the police took appellant’s mother to police headquarters; upon her arrival she was told that her son had confessed to the homicide. She then spoke with her son, and another formal typewritten confession was taken, concluding at 4:20 a. m. At no time prior to appellant’s first confession was he afforded the opportunity to consult with his mother or an interested adult.

The Commonwealth, in an effort to distinguish the instant case from our decisions of Roane and Starkes, supra, argues that appellant’s confession was voluntary because he did not ask to have his mother present, and that because of his prior experience with the police, he was aware of the consequences of his confession and did not need guidance in deciding whether to confess. We are of the opinion that these arguments do not take this case out of our Roane and Starkes rationale. In Roane, supra, we stated:

“. . .In order to support a finding that Daryl’s waiver of his rights was knowing and intelligent, we believe that the record must indicate that Mrs. Roane had an opportunity to give Daryl the kind of helpful advice discussed in Gallegos, supra. The instant case reveals no such opportunity.” At page 395, 329 A.2d at page 289.

In the instant case, the Commonwealth admits that appellant’s mother was not present when he gave his first informal confession but was only taken in to see appellant when his final confession was taken. Under these facts, it is clear that prior to appellant giving his first[*93] confession, which was in essence the same as his later formal confession, appellant, age fifteen, was not given the opportunity to consult his mother before he waived his rights, an opportunity, in our opinion, mandated by our Roane decision;

Judgments of sentence reversed and case remanded for proceedings consistent herewith.

JONES, C. J., took no part in the consideration or decision of this case. EAGEN and POMEROY, JJ., dissent.