Kidd v. Gomez

Dist. Ct. did not err in denying defendant’s habeas petition that challenged his four-count 1984 murder convictions, even though defendant argued that police allegedly coerced confession to said offenses on night of murders. Record showed that defendant voluntarily testified at co-defendants trial and at defendant’s original sentencing hearing that he alone murdered said four individuals at issue in charged offenses. Thus, even if allegedly coerced confession was improperly admitted at defendant’s second trial, said admission of coerced confession was only cumulative to his other voluntary confessions that were admitted at second trial and did not have substantial and injurious effect on jury’s verdict.