Confessio

Acknowledgment; admission; confession.

Confessio facti

Admission of a fact.

Confessio juris

Admission of the law — of the effect of a thing in law/ The latter is not received in evidence, for the party may not Impw the legal effect of a thing, as of an instrument, i See Decree, Pro confesso; Igkoramce.

CONFESSIOlf.

Acknowledgment; admission.

1.

In civil law, the admission of a fact as true, existing, binding, or yalid. Confession and avoidance. The act or proceeding by which a party admits the truth of an allegation he proposes to answer, and then states matter intended to avoid the legal inference which may be drawn from the admission. Some pleas of this sort are in justification or excuse — show that the plaintiff nevei- had any right of action, because the act charged was lawful; while other pleas are in discharge — show that a right of action once existed, but that it is released by some subsequent matter.'^ >See Avoid, 3; Color, 2; Matter, 3, New, Confession of action. A plea confessing the complaint, in whole or in part.^ An admission of a cause of action, as alleged in the declaration, to the extent of its terms. < Confession of judgment. A voluntary submission to the jurisdiction of the court, giving, by consent and without the service of process, what could [might] otherwise be obtained by complaint, summons, and other formal proceedings.* See Attorney, Warrant of; Cognovit.

2.

In criminal law, acknowledgment of guilt.* Direct, indirect, or incidental confession. An acknowledgment of criminal intent, made like an "implied admission" (q. V.) in civU cases." Judicial confession. A confession made before a magistrate or in a court, in the course of legal proceedings.

Extrajudicial confession

Such as is made 1 1 Greenl.

Ev, §§ 96, 203. asteph. PI. 73, 79, 229; 1 Chitty, PI, 540; 2 id.

6U; 3 Bl. Com. 310; 31 Conn. 177. ' [3 Bl. Com. 303, 3J7. i Hackett v. Railroad Co., 35 N. H.,397 (1857). ' First Nat. Bank of Canandaiqua v. Garlinghouse, 53 Barb. 619 (1868). elsewhere than before a magistrate or in court; and embraces not only explicit and express confessions of crime, but all admissions from which guilt may be implied.i Naked confession. A confession uncorroborated by other proof of the corpus delicti.^ Voluntary confession. The presumption is that all confessions are voluntary: free from promise or threat. The state of mind must be brought about by the accused's own independent reasoning. ^ A confession, when the free prompting of a guilty conscience, unincited by hop© or fear, is evidence. It •is receivable although obtained by artifice, by liquor given, or under promise of some collateral good, or made to a physician, parent, or spiritual adviser. At common law, an attorney is the only protected confidant.* The practice is to inquire of the witness whether the prisoner had been told, in effect, that it would be better for him to confess, or worse for him if he did not confess. The judge, exercising a legal discretion, and governed by extreme caution, receives or rejects the proposed proof. ° See further Accomplice; Admission, 2; Communication, Privileged, 1.