Interrogation and Confessions

Question 1

_______________ means to be proven innocent.

Answer 1

Exonerated

Question 2

___________________ is the notion that the legal system is only fair if it ensures that innocent people aren’t punished (e.g. it is fairer for 10 guilty people to walk free than a single innocent person to be punished).

Answer 2

Blackstone maxim

Question 3

What are the 4 concerns with polygraph use?

Answer 3

Conclusions are inferences, interpretation is subjective, deceitful practice, and countermeasures.

Question 4

____________ is taking back something you said in the form of an alibi.

Answer 4

Recante

Question 5

___________________ is when the crown prosecutor offers a reduced charge in return for a guilty plea from the defendant.

Answer 5

Plea bargain

Question 6

__________________ means for free (no compensation)

Answer 6

Pro-bono

Question 7

________________ is the main reason for wrongful convictions

Answer 7

Eyewitness error

Question 8

The second reason for wrongful confessions is __________________

Answer 8

False confessions

Question 9

There are 3 types of confessions. What are they?

Answer 9

Voluntary, coerced-compliant, and coerced-internalized.

Question 10

“You have the right to remain silent” and “if you don’t have an attorney one will be appointed to you” are examples of what?

Answer 10

The Miranda rights

Question 11

_________________ means to back up or support the confession

Answer 11

Corroborate

Question 12

____________________ is when the person confesses to a crime for no logical reason (e.g. due to mental illness).

Answer 12

Voluntary confession

Question 13

___________________ is when a suspect or defendant knows the coercion is untrue, but still confesses anyways (e.g. either way you are going to jail).

Answer 13

Coerced-complaint confession

Question 14

___________________ are confessions where a suspect comes to believe their false confession (e.g. Amanda Knox).

Answer 14

Coerced -internalized confession

Question 15

_______________ is a caution that is read to you (e.g. someone tells it to you and you listen).

Answer 15

Verbal caution

Question 16

_________________ is a caution that is given to you on paper (e.g. you read it yourself).

Answer 16

Written caution

Question 17

_________________ is the idea of “the crown prosecutor will lessen your sentence if you confess”.

Answer 17

Fear of prejudice

Question 18

______________ is the idea of “If you confess I will get you treatment for your mental illness, if you confess I bet the judge will be lenient for your sentence”.

Answer 18

Hope of advantage

Question 19

_______________ is that police cannot pretend to be your lawyer, a religious figure, tell a lie that will offend the community, etc.

Answer 19

Police trickery

Question 20

_______________ is the idea that the suspect cant be drunk when interrogated, high, etc.

Answer 20

Operating mind

Question 21

___________________ is that the suspect can’t be denied sleep, food, water, the washroom, etc.

Answer 21

Atmosphere of opression

Question 22

A confession produced through physically coercive methods is deemed unreliable. True or false?

Answer 22

True

Question 23

A confession produced through psychological coercive methods is deemed unreliable. True or false?

Answer 23

True

Question 24

_________________ causes investigators to use more coercive interrogation methods, and suspects seem more defensive. (e.g. the interrogator is told you’re guilty when you’re not and it creates a tense and toxic conversation).

Answer 24

Guilt bias

Question 25

__________________ is where the detective plays down the seriousness of the charge or offence (e.g. the person you killed is a known drug dealer so you did the community service).

Answer 25

Minimization

Question 26

_________________ is where the investigator plays up the seriousness of the charge (e.g. looks to me like you’re a cold calculated killer and planned this all out).

Answer 26

Maximization

Question 27

What are the 4 concerns with the Reid model?

Answer 27

Coercive, deceptive, boomerang effect, and lying can backfire.

Question 28

___________________ is when a suspect is willing and ready to confess but gets scared to confess based on the aggressive interrogation methods.

Answer 28

Boomerang effect

Question 29

What does PACE stand for?

Answer 29

Police and criminal evidence act

Question 30

___________________ is that when it comes to ourselves and bad things happen, we tend to play up the role or external factors (e.g. I did badly on the exam because it was a hard class), but when it comes to others and bad things happen to them, we tend to play up the role of internal factors (e.g. my roommate did bad on her exam because she’s lazy).

Answer 30

Fundamental attribution error

Question 31

It is better to use one tactic to get more true confessions instead of two. True or false?

Answer 31

True