Chapter 8: Interrogations and Confessions Flashcards
In many cases, police do not solve crimes reliant upon scientific ______________, and eyewitness _____________. Many times, they have no other recourse but to rely on _______________.
evidence; testimony; confessions
Confessions
when one tells officer they committed a crime after being questioned by the officer.
Imagine a case where a woman is found dead in her home, having been murdered. Police are unable to find fingerprint, DNA, clothing fibers, or any other evidence that would point to a suspect. The police question several people (potential suspects) who knew of the woman including her ex-husband and brother-in-law. They both tire under intensive questioning and admit they killed the woman. This tells us 3 things of importance regarding confessions:
1) Sometimes, _____________ are the only way officers can learn about the crime.
2) suspects aren’t willing to a ____________ to their crime unless law enforcement employs _____________ and _________ questioning.
3) _____________ require specific techniques that would be considered a form of ______________ in an ordinary encounter between police and public.
1) confessions
2) admit; intensive; lengthy
3) interrogations; trickery
Confessions during an ______________ help in 2 ways: 1) it helps _____________ the _____________, without having to subject them to the _________ associated with questioning. 2) ____________ of guilt is the first step in an offender taking _____________, on the road towards _____________.
interrogations; exonerate; innocent; time; admission; responsibility; rehabilitation
Admission
When a suspect voluntarily admits to a fact that may indicate criminal guilt.
One problem associated with confessions is __________ ___________. This is generally facilitated through __________________ interrogations by the police, where police interrogate the suspect w/o the presence of a ___________ lawyer, allowing police to resort to ______________ coercion.
abusive conduct; incommunicado; defense; psychological
Challenges that arise from use of confessions
#1 Fair Procedures
Too much reliance on confessions defeats the purpose of one’s guilt being ascertained in court beyond a reasonable doubt.
Challenges that arise from use of confessions
#2 Reliability
Wrongful convictions may arise, if someone gives a false confession.
Challenges that arise from the use of confessions
#3 Inequality
A poor, uneducated man, who can’t afford an attorney and isn’t aware of their rights, might be easily coerced by police to giving a confession.
A wealthy, educated man, however, may decline answering the question and wait until his attorney is present, who he can afford.
False Confessions
innocent individuals confess to a crime they did not commit.
Statements
oral / written declaration to police that may constitute assertion of innocence.
Even a __________ number of false confessions is “_______ ______.”
small; “too many”
3 Types of False Confessors
1) Voluntary False Confessors
2) Compliant False Confessors
3) Internalized False Confessors
Voluntary False Confessors
people confess to crime for…
- publicity
- bc they feel guilt about a past crime
- intellectually disabled
Compliant False Confessors
people who confess…
- to avoid abuse treatment by officers,
- to receive favorable treatment in sentencing, and be imprisoned near family home.
Internalized False Confessors
Confessors who…
- accept police facts
- fail lie detector test, and come to belief that they did commit the crime.
Three Constitutional Provisions Supreme Court relies on to ensure fairness of confessions
1) 14th Amendment
2) 5th Amendment
3) 6th Amendment
1) 14th Amendment (Due Process Clause)
No state shall deprive anyone of life liberty or property w/o due process of law.
Due process clause ensures that confessions are not obtained as the result of trickery / manipulation.
If confessions were obtained using coercion, trickery, etc., we would say this violates one’s liberty to give a free / uncoerced confession, –> which may end up depriving the person liberty through imprisonment.
2) 5th Amendment (Self-Incrimination Clause)
No person shall be compelled (in any criminal case) to be a witness against himself.
Self incrimination clause protects people from being forced to testify against themselves.
Accusatorial System
- Burden of proof falls on prosecutor to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
- Defendants are protected from having to testify against themselves.
Inquisitorial System
- Defendant does not enjoy right against self incrimination.
- Judge will asks defendant questions (as to his involvement in crime).
Star Chamber
Est. 15 Century England
Inquisitorial court
prosecuted political and religious dissidents (rebels).
Resorted to torturing prisoners to gain confessions out of them.
3) 6th Amendment (Counsel Clause)
Defendants have the right to legal counsel to serve in their defense.
Supreme Court used the 6th Amendment to prevent police officers from establishing guilt using any ______________ means.
extrajudicial
The balancing test in this chapter is between law enforcement’s need for a _____________ AGAINST protecting a _____________’s rights.
confession; suspect’s
14th Amendment Due Process Voluntariness test.
- Dates back to English Common law.
- Confessions obtained through physical or psychological coercion, that overcome the will of the suspect to resist, are inadmissible.
In Bram v. U.S., (1897), the Supreme Court ruled that the English common law making ____________ gained through _________ tactics inadmissible, provides the same protections as the __th Amendment self incrimination clause. The Court ruled that ____________ confessions of defendants were inadmissible.
This ruling only applied to the fed. govt, the 5th Amendment wasn’t incorporated until 1964.
confessions; coercive; 5th; involuntary
The __________ of the administration of justice was different from it’s ______________.
Despite the Bram (1864) ruling, several officers were cited for the use of _________ ____________.
philosophy; application; Third Degree
Third Degree
use of violence & coercion to extract confessions from suspects
In Beecher v. Alabama (1967), Beecher, a black man, was running across an open field trying to escape the police.
One of the police shot Beecher’s right _____. One officer jammed the end of a pistol in Beecher’s ________, the other aimed a rifle at the side of his _______. The police threatened to ________ Beecher unless he confessed to the rape of a “white woman.” The officer w/ the rifle fired a round next to Beecher’s ear, and Beecher confessed.
The pain Beecher suffered as a result of the rifle shot to the leg required him to take ____________ every 4 hours. Investigators had Beecher participate in an interrogation, and the medical assistant told Beecher to comply.
Beecher signed statements for the police, and his _____________ and conviction were overturned.
The 1967 ruling is a clear case of the use of the __________ __________ used by police.
In Beecher v. Alabama (1972), the case of Beecher was re-opened because Beecher made _____________ statements under the influence of __________ during the police interrogation. The police used these statements on which he would later be sentenced to the _________ penalty.
The Court ruled that the confessions made by Beecher were grossly ______________, and therefore inadmissible. He was questioned at a time in which he would be compelled to say something against his __________, given the influence of the _____________. The Supreme Court rejected this attempt for a second conviction.
leg; face; ear; kill
morphine
confession
third degree
incriminating; morphine; death; coerced; will; morphine.
In Brown v. Mississippi, (1936), the Supreme Court ruled that the use of _____________ at trial which were obtained through __________ coercion violate the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Arthur Brown was confronted by the police and a large White ____. They wanted him to confess to a murder. He only gave the confession because the police ________ him to do so.
The mob hung Brown from a tree, and __________ him. He was brought down, where he faced beatings until being strung up again. He eventually confessed and signed a ___________ document that the police dictated him to.
Supreme Court ruled that ___________ obtained through ___________ coercion present the risk that someone who is innocent may well be subject to unfair terms of _____________.
The Court also ruled that the methods used to obtain a _________ confession of _________ in this case violates the ____________ liberties afforded to defendants under the Due Process Clause.
Rack and ____________ chambers cannot substitute a defendant _________ on the witness stand.
confessions; physical
mob; forced
whipped; confession
confessions; physical; imprisonment
false; guilt; fundamental
torture; testifying
The Supreme Court ruled that the __________ of the defendant is to be discovered in _________ by the govt using the ___________ ___ __________ _________ standard, and authorities may not derive evidence of _________ through any other means.
guilt; court; beyond a reasonable doubt; guilt
Incommunicado Interrogation
questioning suspects in the isolation of a police station.
In Ashcraft v. Tennessee, (1944), the Supreme Court decided to _________ the Due Process Clause to also prohibit ____________ coercion.
E.E. Ashcraft solicited the ________ of his wife.
The police used ____________ _____________ to interrogate Ashcraft.
The Supreme Court ruled that the “rack and thumbscrew” ____________ torture is now matched with the ____________ persuasion.
Ashcraft was questioned in a _____________ setting that rendered useless his ability to exercise a __________ choice.
The pressure placed on suspects to confess their __________, created by this form of questioning, makes _______ ___________ meaningless.
expand; psychological
murder
incommunicado interrogation
physical; psychological
coercive; rational
guilt; due process
Fundamental Fairness
Due Process Clause prohibits criminal procedures that are fundamentally unfair.
Using __________ of __________ treatment, __________ not to ___________, to get a confession, and these confessions then being admitted into evidence we would say is against Due Process.
promise; favorable; promise; prosecute
Police Methods Test
Due process standard that regulates police interrogation techniques.
unlawful interrogation techniques that incriminate suspects are just as harmful as crimes committed by criminal as well.
Involuntary confessions
Confessions given not out of the rational intellect and free will.