Opinion
October 26, 1967
Appeal from the Onondaga County Court.
Present — Williams, P.J., Bastow, Henry and Marsh, JJ.
Case held, decision reserved and matter remitted to Onondaga County Court for further proceedings in accordance with the following Memorandum: Following a hearing upon the petition of the defendants in a coram nobis proceeding pursuant to People v. Huntley ( 15 N.Y.2d 72) the court found the oral admissions and written confessions in issue to be voluntary without a specification of finding of voluntariness beyond a reasonable doubt. It appears that in a preliminary determination by memorandum dated January 4, 1966, the hearing Judge held that "the burden is upon the defendants to initially establish their contentions and thereafter the ultimate burden of establishing that the confessions are voluntary beyond a reasonable doubt will rest on the People". To the extent that the court imposed a burden on the defendants to establish their contentions it was in error. The matter is remitted to the County Court solely for a decision upon the testimony presented at the hearing as to whether the People have proven voluntariness beyond a reasonable doubt.