Confessions

1
Confessions

• Chapter 11

2
What exactly is an Interrogation?

• Questioning initiated by law enforcement officers
  after a person has been taken into custody or
  otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in
  any significant way

• The opportunity to interrogate must be lawfully
  obtained
• There must be an absence of force, threat of
  force, or promise of leniency
• There must be compliance with requirements for
  warnings of constitutional rights to a custodial
  suspect

3
Effects of Miranda on Confessions

• Suspects frequently waive their rights and choose
  to speak to interrogators
• Suspects continue to provide confessions
• May be at a lower rate than pre-Miranda
• Clearance and conviction rates have not been
  affected significantly
• Fewer police officers may attempt to interrogate

4
Who Are Likely to Waive Their Rights Per Miranda?
Why Do People Waive Their Rights?

• The vast majority of suspects will waive their
  rights per Miranda in cases where the officer
  attempts an interrogation.
• Some change their mind
• Suspects with prior felony records are least
  likely to waive

• Police use techniques designed to obtain waivers
• Suspects are not all the same, personalities and
  experiences dictate who will waive

5
Why Do Suspects Confess?

• Suspect paranoia is the motivation that suspects
  have because they are never sure of exactly what
  information investigators have, they may attempt
  to give false information to lead investigators
  in another direction

• To overcome feelings of guilt and remorse, as
  well as the fear of retaliation or of losing
  love.
• A suspect becomes entangled in the decision on
  whether to speak or invoke the rights to silence
  an attorney, making those decision of their
  perceived probability of the long and short term
  consequences.

6
Does a Waiver Affect the Case?

• No statistical difference has been documented
  between those who waived their rights and those
  who did not in either subsequent charging or
  severity of punishment
• Those who waive are twice as likely to have their
  case resolved through plea bargaining

7
The Confession Statement

• Always allow the perpetrator to read and make
  corrections to their statement
• Ask if they have anything else to say, the
  majority will apologize
• Have them put this in their own writing at the
  bottom of the confession

8
False Confession Defined

• A false confession is a written or oral statement
  acknowledging guilt, made by one who did not
  commit the crime

• No solid estimate of the number of false
  confessions exists
• A lengthy interrogation of the suspect, 16.3
  hours on average, is a common factor in those
  cases that have been proven to be false
  confessions

9
Types of False Confessions

• Voluntary False Confessions
• People who voluntarily provide false confession
  without any external pressure from the police
• To escape an aversive situation
• To avoid an explicit or implied threat
• To gain a promised or implied reward
• The suspect perceives immediate gains that
  outweigh the long term consequences
• Compliant False Confession
• May result in cases of physical or psychological
  torture
• Internalized False Confession
• Some suspects are susceptible to believing that
  they committed the crime, even though they did
  not

10
Reasons why some dont confess

• Inhibitors to confession
• Fear of legal sanctions
• Concern about reputation
• Not wanting to admit to oneself
• Not want family and friends to know
• Fear of retaliation

11
Improving Interrogations

• Follow the facts of the case
• Know the suspect
• Preserve the evidence
• Use psychology instead of coercion

• Do not focus or over-rely on reading suspect
  behavior
• Place the suspect vulnerabilities in context to
  know if the suspect understands what is being
  said
• Avoid contamination by not showing crime scene
  photos
• Use minimization, rationalization, and projection

12
What is Not an Interrogation situation?

• Subtle Compulsion
• Minimal duress which is not the product of the
  words or actions of the police
• Traffic Stop
• An ordinary stop does not constitute custody
• Sobriety Testing
• The privilege against self-incrimination does not
  protect the person from being compelled to
  produce real or physical evidence
• A Stop and Frisk
• Is not considered a search nor is it custody

13
Acceptable Interrogation Tactics

• Conditioning
• De-emphasizing
• Persuasion

• The officer is polite and concerned about the
  suspect
• The officer minimizes the potential importance or
  may blend the rights into conversion
• Convincing the suspect to waive his or her rights
  in order to have the opportunity to speak about
  his side of the situation