Publication Date
12-2024
Document Type
Comment
Abstract
On June 27, 1998, Lori Duniver discovered that her five-year-old daughter, Devan, was missing from her home in New Philadelphia, Ohio. The following day, Devan’s body was found in a wooded area near her home. The Duniver family’s twelve-year-old neighbor, Anthony Harris, was ultimately convicted of Devan’s murder and sentenced to a term of incarceration to last until his twenty-first birthday. However, on June 7, 2000, the Court of Appeals of Ohio reversed his conviction on the ground that the juvenile court had improperly denied a motion to suppress his confession, which was coerced in violation of his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. ...
This Comment seeks to draw attention to the importance of protecting juveniles during police interrogations, specifically in the state of Georgia. Part II of this Comment will discuss the psychological differences between juveniles and adults, focusing on how juveniles are particularly vulnerable to the power dynamics present during police interrogations. Part III will outline the current law for interrogating juveniles in Georgia. Part IV will detail statutes that other states have passed in an attempt to better protect their juveniles, and Part V will explore how Georgia can (and should) do the same. Finally, Part VI will address and rebut several of the concerns that have been raised by critics of juvenile interrogation reform nationwide.
Recommended Citation
Andrews, Lillie Tate
(2024)
"It Takes a Village: Why and How Georgia Should Afford Greater Protection to Juveniles During Police Interrogations,"
Mercer Law Review: Vol. 76:
No.
1, Article 23.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.law.mercer.edu/jour_mlr/vol76/iss1/23