LEGAL PRINCIPLE: CRIMINAL LAW — Confessional Statements — Retracted Confession — Whether Retraction Renders Confession Inadmissible

Retraction of a confession does not render it inadmissible. The confession remains admissible; the retraction affects weight, not admissibility. The court must test the confession’s truth against external evidence. The accused’s denial at trial does not automatically exclude the confession. The judge must consider the retraction but is not bound by it. The principle prevents accused persons from avoiding conviction by simply retracting a truthful confession. The court evaluates all circumstances, including the timing of the retraction and consistency with other evidence. The confession can still ground a conviction if the court is satisfied of its truth. The rule applies to both judicial and extrajudicial confessions.