In this legal update we are providing you with information on several cases from late 2009 and earlier this year. Here are the issues addressed:

• Court upholds confession in which investigators lied about the strength of their evidence during interrogation
• Court limits testimony of Professor Saul Kassin on false confession issues
• Court rejects expert testimony of E. Clay Jorgensen, Ph.D.
• How much corroboration is needed in a confession?
• How long is too long for an interrogation?
• Can a 12 year old make an intelligent and knowing waiver of their rights?
• Can a "mildly mentally retarded" individual make a knowing and intelligent waiver of their rights?
• Confession voluntariness - "If you don't tell the truth you will go to jail and lose your family"
• Court finds test on suggestibility was "not a valid and reliable test to determine a person's suggestibility to admit to a crime"
• Confession voluntariness - "We are here to help you, we are the only ones who can help you."
• Juvenile interrogation - the importance of discussing the Miranda warnings with the juvenile suspect
• Confession voluntariness - suggesting defendant would receive counseling and lenient treatment if he admitted to the sex offenses did not invalidate the confession
• Confession voluntariness - court rejects the concept of pragmatic implication
• Confession ruled inadmissible when investigators ignored custodial suspect's request to stop
• Juvenile confession found inadmissible