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Contribution to Book
Disputed Interrogation Techniques in America: True and False Confessions and the Estimation and Valuation of Type I and Ii Errors
Controversies in Innocence Cases in America (2013)
  • Deborah Davis, University of Nevada, Reno
  • Richard Leo
  • Michael Williams
Abstract

American studies of wrongful conviction have revealed a disturbing pattern. For roughly 25 percent of such cases the defendant was wrongfully convicted in part as the result of a false confession or false guilty plea. In this chapter, we first discuss the evidence that false confessions are a problem. We then review the causes of false confession, with emphasis on police interrogation techniques and interrogation-induced false confession. In this context, we discuss the specific interrogation techniques most strongly implicated in the production of false confessions, as well as specific reforms widely suggested by interrogation scholars to reduce the incidence of interrogation-induced false confession. Finally, the main body of the chapter addresses the issue of how the courts have treated the difficult issues raised by the undeniable problem of false confession and the role of coercive interrogation practices in producing them. Specifically, we address the courts’ rulings regarding the acceptability of specific interrogation practices and the conditions under which a confession is to be regarded as “voluntary” and hence admissible as evidence in trial.

Keywords
  • criminal law,
  • wrongful conviction,
  • false confession,
  • police interrogation,
  • criminal justice,
  • law enforcement,
  • criminal procedure
Publication Date
2013
Editor
S. Cooper
Publisher
Ashgate Publishing
Citation Information
Deborah Davis, Richard Leo and Michael Williams. "Disputed Interrogation Techniques in America: True and False Confessions and the Estimation and Valuation of Type I and Ii Errors" Controversies in Innocence Cases in America (2013)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/richardleo/43/