
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, November 30, 1995                   TAG: 9511300065
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press WASHINGTON
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

CRIMINAL CONFESSION RULES ALTERED BY COURT

The Supreme Court made it easier Wednesday for people to challenge convictions they say are tainted because police violated their rights during questioning.

Ruling 7-2 in an Alaska case, the court gave federal judges broader power to second-guess state courts on the question of whether a criminal suspect was in custody when questioned.

The decision sent back to lower federal courts the case of a man who confessed to killing his ex-wife nine years ago by stabbing her 29 times.

In other matters, the justices:

Heard arguments in an Arizona case in which the justices must decide how much access prison inmates nationwide must have to prison law libraries and legal help.

Debated the government's power to confiscate an innocent person's property used by another in a crime, such as the Michigan woman whose husband used the family car to have illicit sex with a prostitute.

Decisions in both cases are expected by July.

Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.

by CNB