Can Statement Obtained Within 6 Hours of Arrest Be Suppressed ?

In Commonwealth v. Davenport, 471 Pa. 278, 370 A.2d 301 (1977), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that an arrestee must be arraigned within six hours of arrest in order "to guard against the coercive influence of custodial interrogation and to ensure that the rights to which an accused is entitled at preliminary arraignment are afforded without unnecessary delay." Davenport, 370 A.2d at 305. However, Duncan, supra, shifted the emphasis of Davenport from the time of arraignment to "when the defendant's statement was obtained, i.e., within or beyond the six-hour period." Duncan, 525 A.2d at 1182. Henceforth, any statement obtained within six hours of arrest, absent coercion or other illegality, is not to be suppressed on the basis of Davenport, supra.