Corley v. United States

The Court has previously held “a confession given seven hours after arrest inadmissible for ‘unnecessary delay’ in presenting the suspect to a magistrate, where the police questioned the suspect for hours ‘within the vicinity of numerous committing magistrates’” [citing Mallory v. United States]. Delay for the purpose of conducting an interrogation is the height of the meaning of “unnecessary delay” prohibited by the Federal Rules of Procedure 5(a). This is known as the McNabb-Mallory rule.

When Congress enacted 18 U.S.C. § 3501, the statute specified that statements (1) voluntarily given and (2) made within 6 hours of arrest, are admissible. The 6-hour time limit is extended when further delay is “reasonable considering the means of transportation and the distance to be traveled to the nearest available [magistrate judge].” The Court found that this statute “modified McNabb-Mallory without supplanting it.” This means that admissibility determinations will hinge on “whether the defendant confessed within six hours of arrest (unless a longer delay was ‘reasonable considering the means of transportation and the distance to be traveled to the nearest available [magistrate judge]’).” “If the confession came within that period, it is admissible, subject to the other Rules of Evidence.” Statements obtained beyond the six-hour rule can be suppressed if a court decides the delay was unreasonable or unnecessary under the McNabb-Mallory rule.