PSYCH 3CC3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Reid Technique, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, Miranda Warning
19 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Police Interrogations
Confession evidence often viewed as "a prosecutor's most potent weapon".
Officers will often go to great lengths to secure it.
○
-
People who confess to a crime are more likely to be prosecuted & convicted
than those who do not.
-
In some countries, a confession is enough for a conviction (not in NA).
-
Police Interrogation: a process whereby the police interview a suspect for the
purpose of gathering evidence & obtaining a confession of guilt.
-
Physically coercive tactics used in the past.
E.g., whipping, stun gungs, etc.
○
-
Less common now - more psychologically based techniques today.
E.g., lying about evidence, promising lenient treatment, implying threats
to loved ones.
○
-
The Reid Model of Interrogation
Police officers often receive specialized training in how to extract confessions.
Different approaches taught in different places.
E.g., in England & Wales, people a trained to use interrogation
techniques that are far less coercive than in North America.
§
○
-
One interrogation training program in North America is based on Criminal
Interrogation & Confessions.
Includes Reid Model.
○
-
Reid Model: a nine-step model of interrogation used frequently in North
America to extract confessions from suspects.
3 Parts:
(1) Gather evidence related to the crime, interview witnesses &
victims.
§
(2) Conduct a non-accusatorial interview of the suspect to assess
any evidence of deception.
§
(3) Conduct an accusatorial interrogation of the suspect If he or she
is perceived to be guilty in which a nine-step procedure is
implemented - goal is to secure a confession .
§
○
Nine-step Procedure:
(1) Suspect is immediately confronted with his/her guilt.
§
(2) Psychological themes are hen developed that allow the suspect
to rationalize or excuse the crime.
§
(3) Interrogator interrupts any statements of denial by the suspect
to ensure the suspect does not get the upper hand.
§
(4) Interrogator overcomes the suspect's objections to the chargers.
§
(5) If the suspect becomes withdrawn, the interrogator ensures that
he/she has the suspect's attention & that the suspect does not tune
out of the interrogation.
§
(6) Interrogator exhibits sympathy & understanding & the suspect is
urged to come clean.
§
(7) Suspect is offered explanations for the crime, which makes self-
incrimination easier to achieve.
§
(8) Once the suspect accepts responsibility for the crime, typically
by agreeing with one of the alternative explanations, the
interrogator develops this admission into a full confession .
§
(9) Interrogator gets the suspect to write & sign a full confession.
§
○
Additional suggestions (Inbau et al.):
Plainly decorated interrogation room to avoid distraction.
§
Having evidence folder in hand when starting interrogation.
§
Making sure the suspect is alone in the interrogation suiter prior to
entering.
§
○
This model is based on the idea that suspects don't confess to crimes
because of their fear of the potential consequences outweighs the anxiety
of being deceptive.
Reid technique tries to reverse this.
§
○
-
Minimization vs maximization techniques
Minimization: soft sell tactics used by police interrogators that are
designed to lull the suspect into a false sense of security.
E.g., sympathy, excuses, justifications
§
○
Maximization techniques: scare tactics used by police interrogators that
are designed to intimidate a suspect believed to be guilt.
E.g., exaggerating the seriousness of the offence & by making false
claims about evidence the police have.
§
○
-
The Use of the Reid Model in Actual Interrogation
Not sure how often police acc follow this model.
-
Kassin et al (2007) - Self-Report
Many of Reid techniques were used, but the frequency of use varied.
○
Most common = isolating suspects from friends/family, establishing
rapport.
○
Less common = providing justifications for crime, implying/pretending to
have evidence.
○
V rare = threatening suspect w/ consequences for not cooperating,
physical intimidation.
○
-
Leo (1996), King & Snook (2009) - Objective Analysis
Similar results.
○
Number of Reid techniques used did relate to interrogation outcomes w/
more confessions being given when interrogations contained a greater
prop of Reid techniques.
○
But, didn't prove effectiveness.
○
-
Potential Problems with the Reid Model of Interrogation
(1) Detecting Deception
Deception detecting: detecting when someone is being deceptive.
○
Issue - are investigators effective deception detectors?
○
Reid technique relies on the fact that in a preliminary interview,
deception was detected, suggesting the suspect's guilt.
○
Little evidence that police or anyone can detect deception with any
degree of accuracy.
Therefore, any use of the Reid techniques could be based on an
incorrect judgment of guilt.
§
○
Procedural safeguards
US - Miranda rights
§
Canada - Charter of Rights & Freedoms (silence & legal counsel)
§
In both countries, it is only when the suspects knowingly &
voluntarily waive these rights that their statements can be used as
evidence against them.
§
Problems
People don't know/understand their rights.
Particularly young people & those with impaired
intellectual capacity.
®
□
Eastwood and Snook (2010): "Canadians facing an
investigative interview situation will not full comprehend
their rights, & therefore are unable to make a fully informed
decision regarding whether or not they should waive their
rights"
□
§
○
-
(2) Investigator Bias
Investigator Bias: bias that can result when police officers enter an
interrogation setting already believing that the suspect is guilty.
○
When they engage in this, they often unknowingly seek out & interpret
information in that situation in a way that verifies their initial belief.
○
Findings indicate that investigative biases led to coercive interrogations
that caused suspects to appear guiltier to both the interrogator & neutral
observers, even when the suspect had committed no crime.
○
-
Interrogation Practices & the Courts
Trial judge decides whether confession evidence is admissible or not.
-
In North America, judge must consider whether the confession was made
voluntarily & whether the defendant was competent when they provided the
confession.
If involuntary or the person is unstable, confessions are unreliable.
○
-
Confessions extracted through overt coercion are inadmissible, but when
coercion is subtle, its hard to know what to do.
What constitutes "voluntary" & "competent" becomes less clear.
○
-
This might be why Canadian courts hand down rulings in cases involving
questionable confessions.
-
An Alternative to the Reid Model: PEACE Model
England & Wales - courts have restricted the used of many Reid Model
techniques.
-
PEACE:
Planning & preparation
○
Engage & explain
○
Account
○
Closure
○
Evaluation
○
-
Based on interview method known as conversation management - encourages
information gathering more than securing a confession.
-
Interrogation is a bad term in England/Wales - now call it investigative
interviewing
Avoiding negative connotations
○
-
V little research
Some indicates that a decrease in coercive interrogation does not result
in a substantial reduction in the number of confessions.
○
-
Canadian researchers are asking to replace current interrogation techniques
with PEACE.
-
Shifting goals of Canadian interrogation.
Right now, interrogators rarely rely on questioning practices that will
allow them to maximize the amount of complete/accurate information
that is collected.
○
-
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary:
Committed to using PEACE model as primary interview strategy.
○
-
False Confessions
Biggest problem with coercive interrogation.
-
False confession: a confession that is either intentionally fabricated or is not
based on actual knowledge of the facts that form its content.
-
Retracted confession: a confession that the confessor later declares to be false.
-
Disputed confession: a confession that is later disputed at trial.
-
Frequency of False Confessions
Nobody knows how frequently false confessions are made.
-
One problem is that it can be difficult to determine whether a confession is
actually false.
Coercion doesn't equal false confessions.
○
-
Can look at # of wrongful convictions where conviction was due to a confession.
-
Different Types of False Confessions
Kassin & Wrightsman (1985): False confessions consist of voluntary false
confessions, coerced-complaint false confessions, & coerced-internalized false
confessions.
-
Voluntary false confessions: a false confession that is provided without any
elicitation from the police.
Variety of reasons:
Desire for notoriety
§
Person unable to distinguish fact from fantasy.
§
The need to make up for pathological feelings of guilt by receiving
punishment.
§
Desire to protect somebody else from harm.
§
○
Highly publicized cases do occasionally result in voluntary false
confessions.
E.g., Kindapping & murder of Charles Lindberg's baby - 200 people
falsely confessed to the crime.
§
E.g., John Mark Karr - confessed to the murder of JonBenet Ramsey,
but his confession didn't match the details of the case & DNA was
not a match.
§
○
-
Coerced-Compliant False Confessions: a confession that results from a desire to
escape a coercive interrogation environment or gain a benefit by the police.
Most common
○
Confessions may be given so the suspect can …
Escape further interrogation
§
Gain a promised benefit
§
Avoid a threatened punishment
§
○
E.g., R v MJS - MJS accused of aggravated assault on his baby son, after
supplying police with confession, was charge with the crime.
But the interrogations were recorded by the police.
§
Judge stated that the alleged confession was extracted by threats &
implied promises.
§
○
-
Coerced-internalized false confession: a confession that results from suggestive
interrogation techniques, whereby the confessor actually comes to believe he
or she committed the crime.
Vulnerability factors:
A history of substance abuse or some other interference with brain
function
§
The inability of people to detect discrepancies between what they
observed & what has been erroneously suggested to them.
§
Factors associated with mental state, such as severe anxiety,
confusion, or feelings of guilt.
§
○
Rare
○
E.g., Kassin, 2007 - case of Billy Wayne Cope who was convicted for the
rape & murder of his 12-year-old daughter, Amanda.
Cope woke up to find his daughter dead in her bed.
§
Called 911, but was treated as a suspect by the police based on "an
erroneous first impression that there was no sign of forced entry
and a belief that cope showed too little emotion"
§
Lengthy interrogation
§
Cope denied involvement & agreed to a polygraph -- told that he
failed when he didn't.
§
Broke down & admitted that he must've done it even though he
doesn't remember.
§
Later, gave a detailed narrative.
§
Eventually, DNA tests revealed that the semen on Amanda's body
was not from cope, but from a sex offender who had raped & killed
other young girls the same way.
§
Prosecutors lied to Cope's wife saying that the semen was Cope's.
§
Prosecutor still charged Cope with conspiracy arguing that he
pimped his daughter out to Saunders.
§
○
-
Chapter 3: The Psychology of Police Investigations
(p. 58-78)
Saturday, January 13, 2018
9:05 PM
Police Interrogations
Confession evidence often viewed as "a prosecutor's most potent weapon".
Officers will often go to great lengths to secure it.
○
-
People who confess to a crime are more likely to be prosecuted & convicted
than those who do not.
-
In some countries, a confession is enough for a conviction (not in NA).
-
Police Interrogation: a process whereby the police interview a suspect for the
purpose of gathering evidence & obtaining a confession of guilt.
-
Physically coercive tactics used in the past.
E.g., whipping, stun gungs, etc.
○
-
Less common now - more psychologically based techniques today.
E.g., lying about evidence, promising lenient treatment, implying threats
to loved ones.
○
-
The Reid Model of Interrogation
Police officers often receive specialized training in how to extract confessions.
Different approaches taught in different places.
E.g., in England & Wales, people a trained to use interrogation
techniques that are far less coercive than in North America.
§
○
-
One interrogation training program in North America is based on Criminal
Interrogation & Confessions.
Includes Reid Model.
○
-
Reid Model: a nine-step model of interrogation used frequently in North
America to extract confessions from suspects.
3 Parts:
(1) Gather evidence related to the crime, interview witnesses &
victims.
§
(2) Conduct a non-accusatorial interview of the suspect to assess
any evidence of deception.
§
(3) Conduct an accusatorial interrogation of the suspect If he or she
is perceived to be guilty in which a nine-step procedure is
implemented - goal is to secure a confession .
§
○
Nine-step Procedure:
(1) Suspect is immediately confronted with his/her guilt.
§
(2) Psychological themes are hen developed that allow the suspect
to rationalize or excuse the crime.
§
(3) Interrogator interrupts any statements of denial by the suspect
to ensure the suspect does not get the upper hand.
§
(4) Interrogator overcomes the suspect's objections to the chargers.
§
(5) If the suspect becomes withdrawn, the interrogator ensures that
he/she has the suspect's attention & that the suspect does not tune
out of the interrogation.
§
(6) Interrogator exhibits sympathy & understanding & the suspect is
urged to come clean.
§
(7) Suspect is offered explanations for the crime, which makes self-
incrimination easier to achieve.
§
(8) Once the suspect accepts responsibility for the crime, typically
by agreeing with one of the alternative explanations, the
interrogator develops this admission into a full confession .
§
(9) Interrogator gets the suspect to write & sign a full confession.
§
○
Additional suggestions (Inbau et al.):
Plainly decorated interrogation room to avoid distraction.
§
Having evidence folder in hand when starting interrogation.
§
Making sure the suspect is alone in the interrogation suiter prior to
entering.
§
○
This model is based on the idea that suspects don't confess to crimes
because of their fear of the potential consequences outweighs the anxiety
of being deceptive.
Reid technique tries to reverse this.
§
○
-
Minimization vs maximization techniques
Minimization: soft sell tactics used by police interrogators that are
designed to lull the suspect into a false sense of security.
E.g., sympathy, excuses, justifications
§
○
Maximization techniques: scare tactics used by police interrogators that
are designed to intimidate a suspect believed to be guilt.
E.g., exaggerating the seriousness of the offence & by making false
claims about evidence the police have.
§
○
-
The Use of the Reid Model in Actual Interrogation
Not sure how often police acc follow this model.
-
Kassin et al (2007) - Self-Report
Many of Reid techniques were used, but the frequency of use varied.
○
Most common = isolating suspects from friends/family, establishing
rapport.
○
Less common = providing justifications for crime, implying/pretending to
have evidence.
○
V rare = threatening suspect w/ consequences for not cooperating,
physical intimidation.
○
-
Leo (1996), King & Snook (2009) - Objective Analysis
Similar results.
○
Number of Reid techniques used did relate to interrogation outcomes w/
more confessions being given when interrogations contained a greater
prop of Reid techniques.
○
But, didn't prove effectiveness.
○
-
Potential Problems with the Reid Model of Interrogation
(1) Detecting Deception
Deception detecting: detecting when someone is being deceptive.
○
Issue - are investigators effective deception detectors?
○
Reid technique relies on the fact that in a preliminary interview,
deception was detected, suggesting the suspect's guilt.
○
Little evidence that police or anyone can detect deception with any
degree of accuracy.
Therefore, any use of the Reid techniques could be based on an
incorrect judgment of guilt.
§
○
Procedural safeguards
US - Miranda rights
§
Canada - Charter of Rights & Freedoms (silence & legal counsel)
§
In both countries, it is only when the suspects knowingly &
voluntarily waive these rights that their statements can be used as
evidence against them.
§
Problems
People don't know/understand their rights.
Particularly young people & those with impaired
intellectual capacity.
®
□
Eastwood and Snook (2010): "Canadians facing an
investigative interview situation will not full comprehend
their rights, & therefore are unable to make a fully informed
decision regarding whether or not they should waive their
rights"
□
§
○
-
(2) Investigator Bias
Investigator Bias: bias that can result when police officers enter an
interrogation setting already believing that the suspect is guilty.
○
When they engage in this, they often unknowingly seek out & interpret
information in that situation in a way that verifies their initial belief.
○
Findings indicate that investigative biases led to coercive interrogations
that caused suspects to appear guiltier to both the interrogator & neutral
observers, even when the suspect had committed no crime.
○
-
Interrogation Practices & the Courts
Trial judge decides whether confession evidence is admissible or not.
-
In North America, judge must consider whether the confession was made
voluntarily & whether the defendant was competent when they provided the
confession.
If involuntary or the person is unstable, confessions are unreliable.
○
-
Confessions extracted through overt coercion are inadmissible, but when
coercion is subtle, its hard to know what to do.
What constitutes "voluntary" & "competent" becomes less clear.
○
-
This might be why Canadian courts hand down rulings in cases involving
questionable confessions.
-
An Alternative to the Reid Model: PEACE Model
England & Wales - courts have restricted the used of many Reid Model
techniques.
-
PEACE:
Planning & preparation
○
Engage & explain
○
Account
○
Closure
○
Evaluation
○
-
Based on interview method known as conversation management - encourages
information gathering more than securing a confession.
-
Interrogation is a bad term in England/Wales - now call it investigative
interviewing
Avoiding negative connotations
○
-
V little research
Some indicates that a decrease in coercive interrogation does not result
in a substantial reduction in the number of confessions.
○
-
Canadian researchers are asking to replace current interrogation techniques
with PEACE.
-
Shifting goals of Canadian interrogation.
Right now, interrogators rarely rely on questioning practices that will
allow them to maximize the amount of complete/accurate information
that is collected.
○
-
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary:
Committed to using PEACE model as primary interview strategy.
○
-
False Confessions
Biggest problem with coercive interrogation.
-
False confession: a confession that is either intentionally fabricated or is not
based on actual knowledge of the facts that form its content.
-
Retracted confession: a confession that the confessor later declares to be false.
-
Disputed confession: a confession that is later disputed at trial.
-
Frequency of False Confessions
Nobody knows how frequently false confessions are made.
-
One problem is that it can be difficult to determine whether a confession is
actually false.
Coercion doesn't equal false confessions.
○
-
Can look at # of wrongful convictions where conviction was due to a confession.
-
Different Types of False Confessions
Kassin & Wrightsman (1985): False confessions consist of voluntary false
confessions, coerced-complaint false confessions, & coerced-internalized false
confessions.
-
Voluntary false confessions: a false confession that is provided without any
elicitation from the police.
Variety of reasons:
Desire for notoriety
§
Person unable to distinguish fact from fantasy.
§
The need to make up for pathological feelings of guilt by receiving
punishment.
§
Desire to protect somebody else from harm.
§
○
Highly publicized cases do occasionally result in voluntary false
confessions.
E.g., Kindapping & murder of Charles Lindberg's baby - 200 people
falsely confessed to the crime.
§
E.g., John Mark Karr - confessed to the murder of JonBenet Ramsey,
but his confession didn't match the details of the case & DNA was
not a match.
§
○
-
Coerced-Compliant False Confessions: a confession that results from a desire to
escape a coercive interrogation environment or gain a benefit by the police.
Most common
○
Confessions may be given so the suspect can …
Escape further interrogation
§
Gain a promised benefit
§
Avoid a threatened punishment
§
○
E.g., R v MJS - MJS accused of aggravated assault on his baby son, after
supplying police with confession, was charge with the crime.
But the interrogations were recorded by the police.
§
Judge stated that the alleged confession was extracted by threats &
implied promises.
§
○
-
Coerced-internalized false confession: a confession that results from suggestive
interrogation techniques, whereby the confessor actually comes to believe he
or she committed the crime.
Vulnerability factors:
A history of substance abuse or some other interference with brain
function
§
The inability of people to detect discrepancies between what they
observed & what has been erroneously suggested to them.
§
Factors associated with mental state, such as severe anxiety,
confusion, or feelings of guilt.
§
○
Rare
○
E.g., Kassin, 2007 - case of Billy Wayne Cope who was convicted for the
rape & murder of his 12-year-old daughter, Amanda.
Cope woke up to find his daughter dead in her bed.
§
Called 911, but was treated as a suspect by the police based on "an
erroneous first impression that there was no sign of forced entry
and a belief that cope showed too little emotion"
§
Lengthy interrogation
§
Cope denied involvement & agreed to a polygraph -- told that he
failed when he didn't.
§
Broke down & admitted that he must've done it even though he
doesn't remember.
§
Later, gave a detailed narrative.
§
Eventually, DNA tests revealed that the semen on Amanda's body
was not from cope, but from a sex offender who had raped & killed
other young girls the same way.
§
Prosecutors lied to Cope's wife saying that the semen was Cope's.
§
Prosecutor still charged Cope with conspiracy arguing that he
pimped his daughter out to Saunders.
§
○
-
Chapter 3: The Psychology of Police Investigations
(p. 58-78)
Saturday, January 13, 2018
9:05 PM
Police Interrogations
Confession evidence often viewed as "a prosecutor's most potent weapon".
Officers will often go to great lengths to secure it.
○
-
People who confess to a crime are more likely to be prosecuted & convicted
than those who do not.
-
In some countries, a confession is enough for a conviction (not in NA).
-
Police Interrogation: a process whereby the police interview a suspect for the
purpose of gathering evidence & obtaining a confession of guilt.
-
Physically coercive tactics used in the past.
E.g., whipping, stun gungs, etc.
○
-
Less common now - more psychologically based techniques today.
E.g., lying about evidence, promising lenient treatment, implying threats
to loved ones.
○
-
The Reid Model of Interrogation
Police officers often receive specialized training in how to extract confessions.
Different approaches taught in different places.
E.g., in England & Wales, people a trained to use interrogation
techniques that are far less coercive than in North America.
§
○
-
One interrogation training program in North America is based on Criminal
Interrogation & Confessions.
Includes Reid Model.
○
-
Reid Model: a nine-step model of interrogation used frequently in North
America to extract confessions from suspects.
3 Parts:
(1) Gather evidence related to the crime, interview witnesses &
victims.
§
(2) Conduct a non-accusatorial interview of the suspect to assess
any evidence of deception.
§
(3) Conduct an accusatorial interrogation of the suspect If he or she
is perceived to be guilty in which a nine-step procedure is
implemented - goal is to secure a confession .
§
○
Nine-step Procedure:
(1) Suspect is immediately confronted with his/her guilt.
§
(2) Psychological themes are hen developed that allow the suspect
to rationalize or excuse the crime.
§
(3) Interrogator interrupts any statements of denial by the suspect
to ensure the suspect does not get the upper hand.
§
(4) Interrogator overcomes the suspect's objections to the chargers.
§
(5) If the suspect becomes withdrawn, the interrogator ensures that
he/she has the suspect's attention & that the suspect does not tune
out of the interrogation.
§
(6) Interrogator exhibits sympathy & understanding & the suspect is
urged to come clean.
§
(7) Suspect is offered explanations for the crime, which makes self-
incrimination easier to achieve.
§
(8) Once the suspect accepts responsibility for the crime, typically
by agreeing with one of the alternative explanations, the
interrogator develops this admission into a full confession .
§
(9) Interrogator gets the suspect to write & sign a full confession.
§
○
Additional suggestions (Inbau et al.):
Plainly decorated interrogation room to avoid distraction.
§
Having evidence folder in hand when starting interrogation.
§
Making sure the suspect is alone in the interrogation suiter prior to
entering.
§
○
This model is based on the idea that suspects don't confess to crimes
because of their fear of the potential consequences outweighs the anxiety
of being deceptive.
Reid technique tries to reverse this.
§
○
-
Minimization vs maximization techniques
Minimization: soft sell tactics used by police interrogators that are
designed to lull the suspect into a false sense of security.
E.g., sympathy, excuses, justifications
§
○
Maximization techniques: scare tactics used by police interrogators that
are designed to intimidate a suspect believed to be guilt.
E.g., exaggerating the seriousness of the offence & by making false
claims about evidence the police have.
§
○
-
The Use of the Reid Model in Actual Interrogation
Not sure how often police acc follow this model.
-
Kassin et al (2007) - Self-Report
Many of Reid techniques were used, but the frequency of use varied.
○
Most common = isolating suspects from friends/family, establishing
rapport.
○
Less common = providing justifications for crime, implying/pretending to
have evidence.
○
V rare = threatening suspect w/ consequences for not cooperating,
physical intimidation.
○
-
Leo (1996), King & Snook (2009) - Objective Analysis
Similar results.
○
Number of Reid techniques used did relate to interrogation outcomes w/
more confessions being given when interrogations contained a greater
prop of Reid techniques.
○
But, didn't prove effectiveness.
○
-
Potential Problems with the Reid Model of Interrogation
(1) Detecting Deception
Deception detecting: detecting when someone is being deceptive.
○
Issue - are investigators effective deception detectors?
○
Reid technique relies on the fact that in a preliminary interview,
deception was detected, suggesting the suspect's guilt.
○
Little evidence that police or anyone can detect deception with any
degree of accuracy.
Therefore, any use of the Reid techniques could be based on an
incorrect judgment of guilt.
§
○
Procedural safeguards
US - Miranda rights
§
Canada - Charter of Rights & Freedoms (silence & legal counsel)
§
In both countries, it is only when the suspects knowingly &
voluntarily waive these rights that their statements can be used as
evidence against them.
§
Problems
People don't know/understand their rights.
Particularly young people & those with impaired
intellectual capacity.
®
□
Eastwood and Snook (2010): "Canadians facing an
investigative interview situation will not full comprehend
their rights, & therefore are unable to make a fully informed
decision regarding whether or not they should waive their
rights"
□
§
○
-
(2) Investigator Bias
Investigator Bias: bias that can result when police officers enter an
interrogation setting already believing that the suspect is guilty.
○
When they engage in this, they often unknowingly seek out & interpret
information in that situation in a way that verifies their initial belief.
○
Findings indicate that investigative biases led to coercive interrogations
that caused suspects to appear guiltier to both the interrogator & neutral
observers, even when the suspect had committed no crime.
○
-
Interrogation Practices & the Courts
Trial judge decides whether confession evidence is admissible or not.
-
In North America, judge must consider whether the confession was made
voluntarily & whether the defendant was competent when they provided the
confession.
If involuntary or the person is unstable, confessions are unreliable.
○
-
Confessions extracted through overt coercion are inadmissible, but when
coercion is subtle, its hard to know what to do.
What constitutes "voluntary" & "competent" becomes less clear.
○
-
This might be why Canadian courts hand down rulings in cases involving
questionable confessions.
-
An Alternative to the Reid Model: PEACE Model
England & Wales - courts have restricted the used of many Reid Model
techniques.
-
PEACE:
Planning & preparation
○
Engage & explain
○
Account
○
Closure
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Evaluation
○
-
Based on interview method known as conversation management - encourages
information gathering more than securing a confession.
-
Interrogation is a bad term in England/Wales - now call it investigative
interviewing
Avoiding negative connotations
○
-
V little research
Some indicates that a decrease in coercive interrogation does not result
in a substantial reduction in the number of confessions.
○
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Canadian researchers are asking to replace current interrogation techniques
with PEACE.
-
Shifting goals of Canadian interrogation.
Right now, interrogators rarely rely on questioning practices that will
allow them to maximize the amount of complete/accurate information
that is collected.
○
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Royal Newfoundland Constabulary:
Committed to using PEACE model as primary interview strategy.
○
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False Confessions
Biggest problem with coercive interrogation.
-
False confession: a confession that is either intentionally fabricated or is not
based on actual knowledge of the facts that form its content.
-
Retracted confession: a confession that the confessor later declares to be false.
-
Disputed confession: a confession that is later disputed at trial.
-
Frequency of False Confessions
Nobody knows how frequently false confessions are made.
-
One problem is that it can be difficult to determine whether a confession is
actually false.
Coercion doesn't equal false confessions.
○
-
Can look at # of wrongful convictions where conviction was due to a confession.
-
Different Types of False Confessions
Kassin & Wrightsman (1985): False confessions consist of voluntary false
confessions, coerced-complaint false confessions, & coerced-internalized false
confessions.
-
Voluntary false confessions: a false confession that is provided without any
elicitation from the police.
Variety of reasons:
Desire for notoriety
§
Person unable to distinguish fact from fantasy.
§
The need to make up for pathological feelings of guilt by receiving
punishment.
§
Desire to protect somebody else from harm.
§
○
Highly publicized cases do occasionally result in voluntary false
confessions.
E.g., Kindapping & murder of Charles Lindberg's baby - 200 people
falsely confessed to the crime.
§
E.g., John Mark Karr - confessed to the murder of JonBenet Ramsey,
but his confession didn't match the details of the case & DNA was
not a match.
§
○
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Coerced-Compliant False Confessions: a confession that results from a desire to
escape a coercive interrogation environment or gain a benefit by the police.
Most common
○
Confessions may be given so the suspect can …
Escape further interrogation
§
Gain a promised benefit
§
Avoid a threatened punishment
§
○
E.g., R v MJS - MJS accused of aggravated assault on his baby son, after
supplying police with confession, was charge with the crime.
But the interrogations were recorded by the police.
§
Judge stated that the alleged confession was extracted by threats &
implied promises.
§
○
-
Coerced-internalized false confession: a confession that results from suggestive
interrogation techniques, whereby the confessor actually comes to believe he
or she committed the crime.
Vulnerability factors:
A history of substance abuse or some other interference with brain
function
§
The inability of people to detect discrepancies between what they
observed & what has been erroneously suggested to them.
§
Factors associated with mental state, such as severe anxiety,
confusion, or feelings of guilt.
§
○
Rare
○
E.g., Kassin, 2007 - case of Billy Wayne Cope who was convicted for the
rape & murder of his 12-year-old daughter, Amanda.
Cope woke up to find his daughter dead in her bed.
§
Called 911, but was treated as a suspect by the police based on "an
erroneous first impression that there was no sign of forced entry
and a belief that cope showed too little emotion"
§
Lengthy interrogation
§
Cope denied involvement & agreed to a polygraph -- told that he
failed when he didn't.
§
Broke down & admitted that he must've done it even though he
doesn't remember.
§
Later, gave a detailed narrative.
§
Eventually, DNA tests revealed that the semen on Amanda's body
was not from cope, but from a sex offender who had raped & killed
other young girls the same way.
§
Prosecutors lied to Cope's wife saying that the semen was Cope's.
§
Prosecutor still charged Cope with conspiracy arguing that he
pimped his daughter out to Saunders.
§
○
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Chapter 3: The Psychology of Police Investigations
(p. 58-78)
Saturday, January 13, 2018 9:05 PM
