Nix v. Williams

Williams (defendant), suspected of abducting and killing a young girl, was improperly induced by police, in violation of his right to counsel, to lead them to the victim's body while an organized 200-person search was already actively combing the area where the body was ultimately found. At Williams's second trial, prosecutors did not introduce the improper interrogation but presented evidence of the body's condition, and the trial court admitted it after finding by a preponderance of the evidence that the search teams would have discovered the body regardless; Williams was convicted, and after lower courts split, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari.