“A verdict of not guilty is conclusive and the defendant must be discharged. If however he is convicted, he may in some instances appeal the case to a higher court for review and that is not being again put in jeopardy.”—Emlin McClain, quoted in the Cyclopedia of American Government, Vol II, p. 251.
“Jeopardy is complete when the court proceeds with a jury to ascertain the defendant's guilt.”
“As the criminal jurisdiction of the Federal Court extends only to offenses against the Federal laws, and no prosecution for such offenses can be entertained in the state courts—it follows that there can be no questions of former jeopardy as between a federal and a state court.”—Cyclopedia of American Government, Vol II, p. 251.
Constitution of the United States, Amendment V.
In our own early colonies persons were frequently tortured to compel them to give evidence against themselves or against other people, but at that time the colonies were still under British authority.
An instance was recently reported of a man appearing before a sheriff and confessing to the commission of five different murders in as many different places in a western State. Upon investigation it was found that murders had been committed in these places about the time he confessed to having committed the crimes, so he was arrested and held by the sheriff. Upon further investigation it was discovered that he was mentally unbalanced and having read of all these crimes he imagined he had committed them. He was released from arrest and was committed to a hospital for the insane. In this instance an innocent man might have been executed if his own testimony had been sufficient to convict him.
If a person confesses to having committed a crime and the facts as stated are found to be correct, he may then be convicted of the crime, but the conviction is made on the basis of the evidence disclosed by his confession and not on the confession itself. Having made a confession the officers may then from the facts told by the accused find other facts sufficient to convict without offering the confession in evidence.
“A confession is not admissible in evidence where it is obtained by temporal inducement, by threats, promise or hope of favor held out to the party in respect of his escape from the charge against him, by a person in authority.”—Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Vol. I, p. 387.
“When an inducement destroys a confession it must be held out by a person in authority.”
Constitution of the United States, Amendment V.