False Confession Case Histories

False confessions are caused by investigators engaging in coercive behaviors. Here are a number of case examples.

Physical abuse and the threat of physical harm

The courts have long recognized that physically abusing the suspect or threatening them with physical harm can cause an innocent person to confess. In our book, Criminal Interrogation and Confessions, as well on our website, we document numerous cases in which the courts have ruled confessions to be inadmissible because the subject was physically beaten or abused, or he was threatened with physical harm if he did not confess.

In one case an 18-year-old father was being interrogated about the suspicious death of his 6-month-old child, he was told by the investigator, “You don't get punished in this justice system for telling the truth. You get punished by…. doing something intentional and showing no remorse. Those people are called killers. And what do you think happens to baby killers in prison? What do you think is going to happen? You're eighteen.” A second investigator stated, “It's mandatory life.”

The subject was also told, “And your life won't be long as a baby killer in prison. Check the history papers. Stay online when you get a chance in the county jail. See what happens to baby killers in jail.”, and, “When you get convicted of this and you go over for sentencing in front of that judge, every judge wants to send a baby killer to prison forever.”

The court found that these “baby killer” statements were threats of physical violence that case law has reasonably found to be indicative of improper coercion.

Threats of inevitable consequences

An example of a threat of inevitable consequences would be telling a suspect that if he did not confess his children will be taken away from him, or, telling a suspect that “if you don’t cooperate and tell us that you did this, I’m going to make sure that you never see your wife or kids again.”

In one case the investigators threatened to have federal authorities charge the suspect with a crime for having his mother's gun in his room. They implied that he would not see his infant son grow up. They also threatened him by saying his mother would lose her Section 8 housing and end up in the street with all of his younger siblings if he did not admit to committing the armed robbery.

Promises of leniency

The courts have consistently found that advising a suspect of the potential penalties he may face based on the type of crime that he committed is not coercive, but that promising the suspect a benefit for confessing, such as receiving a shorter sentence, getting counseling instead of going to jail, or being able to go home and not getting arrested, can nullify a confession

For example, in the interrogation of a man who allegedly abused a 7-year-old child he was told by the investigator that the case would go away and would not proceed if he met the victim halfway and apologized to her... He further told the subject that he could put the case "in a drawer" if he admitted to some "inappropriate sexual stuff."

Denial of rights

In reviewing false confession cases in a number of instances the subject was denied their rights – they were in custody but when they asked for an attorney that request was ignored, or they advised the investigator that they did not want to talk anymore, but the interrogation continued. In some juvenile interrogations they were denied the opportunity to see a parent or guardian in violation of the law.

In a recent custodial interrogation, the subject made what the court viewed as an unambiguous invocation of his right to an attorney (and the court found that the interrogation should have been terminated) when he stated, “If I'm going to answer questions, I'm going to need a lawyer here.” Seconds later, he restated his request: “I want to talk to you, but I just need my lawyer.” And after an investigator asks, “here’s what you're telling us—you do want your lawyer?” Defendant once more affirms his request: “I want to talk, yeah. But I need my lawyer present.” The interrogation continued without a lawyer present

Denial of physical needs

In a number of false confession cases that lasted an excessively long period of time (in some cases 16 hours or more), the subject never had the opportunity to get something to eat or drink, sleep or use the washroom

Excessively long interrogations

In many false confessions cases the interrogation process lasted an excessively long period of time. One study of 44 false confession cases noted that the average length of interrogation was 16.3 hours. Several individuals who gave false confessions subsequently stated that they confessed just to end the process, just to be able to go home. They felt confident that the subsequent investigation would prove that they had nothing to do with the crime

Over the course of almost two days the police detained the suspect, a man of limited intelligence and little education, who was unaccompanied by a friend or an attorney, for about 30 hours and questioned him almost continuously for about 17 of those hours. The investigators persisted in telling the suspect that he was guilty, "hollering and screaming" at him...despite being aware of his mental limitations and despite his repeated denials. At one point the suspect feared for his life and signed an incriminating statement.

Disclosure of crime details

Many false confession cases include details about the crime that only the guilty person should know. However, a careful analysis in many of these cases found that these details were revealed to the subject by the investigator (oftentimes inadvertently) during the questioning, or were revealed in photographs that the investigators showed the subject. The disclosure of crime details to the subject contaminates the confession in that it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine if the subject had independent knowledge of these details or was just repeating what he was told.

Failure to properly take into account the subject’s mental limitations and/or psychological disabilities

In numerous false confession cases the subjects had severe mental limitations, a very low IQ, or in several cases were found to be extremely psychologically susceptible to suggestions of their guilt. In those instances where it is readily apparent that the subject has a significant mental limitation, the investigator should not engage in active persuasion but rather engage in a logical sequence of questions. The key factor in these instances where there is a concern about the subject’s mental or psychological capacity, is to establish in the confession that the subject offered corroborating information that the police did not know, such as the location of the murder weapon, the bloody clothes or the stolen jewelry

For example, in one case the defendant was being questioned about committing a robbery – he was 19-years-old with an IQ of 55 and the intellectual functioning of a nine-year-old. According to the court “It was clear from the beginning of the interview that [the suspect] had mental handicaps.” When the investigators asked him to read a sign out loud, he began sounding out the words, but could not read the word “monitored.” He told the officers, “I am slow in the head,” “I lose memory real fast,” and “Can you bring me to memory?” The court found that the investigators “took advantage of his intellectual deficiencies to intimidate, coerce or trick him into signing a waiver of his Miranda rights and falsely confessing to the robbery.”

Failure to properly modify approaches with socially immature juveniles

Socially immature juveniles, as well as very young subjects, can be more susceptible to suggestion (active persuasion) and are motivated to please persons in authority, so caution must be exercised in the questioning of these individuals. We detail the cautions the investigator must exercise when dealing with this group later in this document.

Failure to properly corroborate confession details

A review of false confessions will reveal that a number of these confessions contain details that were significantly different than the actual crime, such as the subject stating that he stabbed the victim when the victim had actually been shot. The best form of corroboration is for the subject to reveal accurate details about the crime that were not disclosed by the investigators, or to disclose details that the investigators did not know.

A classic example of a case in which the details offered by the subject, in what turned out to be a verified false confession, should have been seen as significant red flags, included the fact that the subject did not know what happened to the gun used in the murder he had allegedly committed; did not know how many times the victim was shot; did not know when the murder occurred; and, drew a picture of the crime scene but placed the body in the wrong location from where it was actually found

To summarize our discussion up to this point, the primary causes and contributing factors for false confessions are the following:

• Physical abuse of the subject

• Threats of physical harm

• Threats of inevitable consequences

• Promises of leniency

• Denial of rights

• Denial of physical needs

• Excessively long interrogations

• Disclosure of crime details

• Failure to properly take in to account the subject’s mental limitations and/or psychological disabilities

• Failure to properly modify approaches with socially immature juveniles

• Failure to properly corroborate confession details