Carter

Lawrence Lee Carter was charged with the murder of Artelyous Jacobs on 29 December 1967. A prior conviction for assault with a deadly weapon was charged and admitted. A jury found Carter guilty of murder in the first degree, and the court sentenced him to life imprisonment. He appeals.

The case involved a singularly brutal and wanton killing by two men and three girls, who pursuant to a prearranged scheme and under the pretext of prostitution lured the victim to an empty apartment, where he was assaulted and beaten to death by Carter and another in the course of robbery. The net proceeds of the robbery amounted to the pair of new shoes which Jacobs was wearing. On appeal, Carter does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence, so we summarize only that part which relates to his contention that a tape-recorded confession should not have been admitted in evidence because obtained in violation of his constitutional rights.

At the trial Carter objected to the introduction of the confession on two specific grounds: (1) he was coerced into making it by interrogation which continued after he had invoked his right to silence; (2) at the time he made the confession he had not…