Preparing to Testify in a Confession Case

In almost every confession case, the defense will challenge the admissibility of their client’s confession, oftentimes suggesting that it was the result of some inappropriate behavior by the investigator.

For those of you who have attended a Reid training program, you can testify that the Reid program teaches the following Core Principals and Best Practices:

• Do not make any promises of leniency

• Do not threaten the subject with any physical harm or inevitable consequences

• Do not deny the subject any of their rights

• Do not deny the subject the opportunity to satisfy their physical needs

• Withhold information about the details of the crime from the subject so that if the subject confesses the disclosure of that information can be used to confirm the authenticity of the statement

• Exercise special cautions when questioning juveniles or individuals with mental or psychological impairments

• Always treat the subject with dignity and respect

• Conduct an interview before any interrogation. Absent a life-saving circumstance the investigator should conduct a non-accusatory interview before engaging in any interrogation

• Conduct an interrogation only when there is a reasonable belief that the suspect committed the issue under investigation or is withholding relevant information

• Attempt to verify the suspect's alibi before conducting an interrogation

• When interrogating a non-custodial suspect, do not deprive the suspect from his freedom to leave the room

• Do not conduct excessively long interrogations

• When a suspect claims to have little or no memory for the time period when the crime was committed the investigator should not lie to the suspect concerning incriminating evidence

• Electronically record the interview and interrogation

• The confession is not the end of the investigation.

Following the confession, the investigator should investigate the confession details in an effort to establish the authenticity of the subject's statement, as well as attempt to establish the suspect's activities before and after the commission of the crime.

In anticipation of a “false confession expert” testifying for the defense, please review the following Investigator Tips that outline many of the claims that false confession experts will make:

Correcting Misinformation About the Reid Technique

Investigator Tips About the Reid Technique and False Confession Experts Sorted by Topics

Responding to a False Confession Expert in Your Case

The Disingenuous Testimony from Social Psychologists About the Reid Technique

What Questions Should be Asked to Determine the Voluntariness and Validity of a Subject’s Confession?

There are dozens of additional Investigator Tips that you can review at https://reid.com/resources/investigator-tips.