Interrogations and Confessions

Question 1

What is the purpose of interrogations?

Answer 1

1) to obtain more information (primary goal of psychologists)
2) To obtain a confession (many manuals stress this goal over number 1)

Question 2

What can police legally do in interrogations?

Answer 2

1) lie (mislead suspects, misrepresent case facts)
2) take advantage of suspects emotions/beliefs
3) Fail to inform suspect of important facts or circumstances that might make them less likely to confess.

Question 3

What was the case of Richard Jule?

Answer 3

There was a bombing at the summer olympics, backpack with items was found by Richard and they treated him as a suspect. They lied to him and brought him under the pretense of a training video- interrogated him and found him not guilty, but people still hold suspicion an it has take an toll on his wellbeing.

Question 4

What was the case of Susan Smith?

Answer 4

Drowned her two sons- police told her they were doing a drug stakeout in the area where an abduction occurred, she confessed.

Question 5

What can’t police do in interrogations?

Answer 5

Physical threats (veiled threats is fine), promises of leniency, failure to notify suspect of right to counsel, right to remain silence etc. Cannot use anything that is deemed oppression or that would compromise the voluntary nature of the confession, prolonged isolation, sleep or food deprivation, explicit threats of harm or punishment.

Question 6

What was the case of R. v Oickle?

Answer 6

Arson charges- had him take a polygraph where police told him e failed as well as exaggerated the effectiveness. Also told him they wouldn’t make his gf take a polygraph if he confessed. He did confess and raised that it wasn’t voluntary. Court ruled that the deception was justifiable.

Question 7

When is deception not justifiable?

Answer 7

Deception must “shock the community” or be directly relevant to the voluntariness of the confession.

Question 8

What was the case of Jason Dix?

Answer 8

His friend went to work with his boss and then was murdered. They brought Jason in and said he was with his friend at the time and had his eyes on his mistress. It was prematurely released to the press that the bodies were electrocuted- Jason had a confirmed alibi and police brought undercover cops to see if he would agree to do other criminal acts. No evidence, never plead guilty, interviewed for 11 hours.

Question 9

What is the most common training program for interrogation in the US and Canada?

Answer 9

The REID technique.

Question 10

What does the PEACE model stand for?

Answer 10

Preparation and planning (aims and objectives)
Engage and explain (establishing rapport)
Account ( 2 methods: cognitive interview or conversation management)
Closure (summary of interview)
Evaluate
This model is used by psychologists.

Question 11

Why wouldn’t someone confess?

Answer 11

Fear of consequences, think you can get away with it.

Question 12

Why do people confess?

Answer 12

Feelings of guilt, anxiety with deception

Question 13

What is the psychology behind the REID technique?

Answer 13

To minimize the reasons not to confess (fear of consequence), and to maximize the reasons to confess (feelings of guilt, anxiety with deception)

Question 14

What are some minimization techniques?

Answer 14

Extenuating circumstances (I understand why you did this, no big deal)
External attribution
Belittle seriousness of crime
Blame the victim

Question 15

What are some maximization techniques?

Answer 15

Scare tactics
False claims
Exaggerating the seriousness of the crime
Knowledge bluff trick (fingerprints, DNA, cop posed as eyewitness).

Question 16

Where is a REID investigation typically conducted?

Answer 16

In a room devoid of comfort and distractions, accoustically sound proof, bare of furniture and ornaments, no communication with friends or family.

Question 17

Why is are REID interrogations conducted in such specific settings?

Answer 17

To promote lack of control and social isolation- illusion that the world is withdrawing.

Question 18

How should the investigator behave in a REID interrogation?

Answer 18

Invade personal space to increase anxiety, equal eye-level, don’t let the suspect set the ground rules, firm but not arrogant, establish authority to increase compliance.

Question 19

What are the three stages of the REID process?

Answer 19

1) Factual analysis
2) Behavioural analysis
3) Reid interrogation

Question 20

What is factual analysis?

Answer 20

Identify the suspect, gather evidence, interview witnesses, consider facts (motive/opportunity), medical and forensic information.

Question 21

What is behavioural analysis?

Answer 21

Conduct a non-accusatorial interview of the suspect to assess for deception and guilt (are they deceptive in other situations, build rapport)

Question 22

What are some tips to recognize deception?

Answer 22

1) Hand shaking- twist your hand and if they follow suit they are more likely to be forthcoming
2) Ask about the day of the crime, if the level of detail differs for the time of the crime, then they might be hiding something
3) Innocent suspects give concise answers with no fear of being trapped
4) Guilty suspects won’t make eye contact and are overly polite.

Question 23

What is the REID interrogation?

Answer 23

Accusatorial interrogation if the suspect is believed to be guilty. 9 steps to obtain confession.

Question 24

What are the 9 steps of the REID interrogation?

Answer 24

1) Confront suspect with guilt (existing or fabricated evidence)
2) Themes to help suspect justify, rationalize, excuse the crime (have to stop this)
3) Interrupt attempts to deny crime
4) Continually interrupt until suspect becomes quiet and withdrawn
5) Make sure the suspect remains focused on the interrogation (sitting close, eye contact)
6) Sympathy and understanding
7) Alternative questions to suspect to induce suspect to acknowledge responsibility
8) Once this happens, help them develop a full confession
9) Have suspect write and sign a full confession.

Question 25

What did Wald et al. find after studying 127 interrogations?

Answer 25

65 involved at least 1 REID tactic with an average of 2 tactics used per suspect.

Question 26

What is the most common approaches with the REID technique?

Answer 26

Overwhelming the suspect with damaging evidence, assert firm belief in guilt, appeal to confess for everyone’s sake, appeal accompanied by sympathy and concern for the suspects welfare.

Question 27

What are some other REID strategies that are typically used?

Answer 27

Good cop/bad cop, playing suspects off or against each other, minimizing the seriousness, shifting blame to external factors, alerting suspect to signs of nerves, promises, vague threats.

Question 28

What did King and Snook find when they looked at 44 videotapes of Canadian police interrogation?

Answer 28

Used an average of 34% of the components of the REID technique
More minimizing strategies over maximizing
27% of these were deemed coercive in nature.

Question 29

What are confessions associated with?

Answer 29

• Number of core REID components used

- Number of coercive strategies used.

Question 30

What are the 3 main issues with the REID technique?

Answer 30

1) Detecting deception
2) Investigator Bias
3) Coercive nature

Question 31

Are police officers any better at detecting deception than other people?

Answer 31

No- even after training they tend to be no better.

Question 32

What is investigator bias?

Answer 32

Begin with the assumption of guilt, confirmation bias

Question 33

What was Kassin, Goldstein, Savitsky’s study on investigator bias?

Answer 33

Had a vignette with 2 (actual suspect guilt: guilty or not) x 2( perceived guilt: guilty or not). Had 6 questions worded differently (how did you find the key behind the VCR, what do you know about the key behind the VCR?) and tried to expose inconsistencies.

Question 34

What were the findings from Kassin, Goldstein, and Savitsky?

Answer 34

When investigators had an expectation of guilt they chose more tactics and more presumptive questions. With innocent suspects, investigators indicated they tried harder to gain a confession and exerted pressure. Innocent suspects also rated their interrogators as more intense than guilty suspets.

Question 35

What did Rattner find when he analyzed 205 known cases of wrongful convictions?

Answer 35

8 % of them were as a result of coerced confession.

Question 36

Out of the 337 people exonerated by the innocence project, what percentage of these people were convicted due to false confession?

Answer 36

25%

Question 37

What is the most common factor for wrongful conviction?

Answer 37

Mistaken identity, with false confession being number 2

Question 38

What is a voluntary false confession?

Answer 38

Admit to a crime without any elicitation for police.

Question 39

Why would someone elicit a false confession?

Answer 39

1) Notoriety
2) Fact versus fantasy
3) Feelings of guilt, want punishment
4) To protect someone else.

Question 40

What is a coerced compliant false confession?

Answer 40

When someone confesses and are aware they did not do it after police pressure. q

Question 41

Why would someone elicit a coerced compliant false confession?

Answer 41

To escape further interrogation, gain promised benefits, avoid threat/punishment.

Question 42

What is a coerced internalized false confession?

Answer 42

When someone confesses after police pressure, but they now believe they did it.

Question 43

What are the factors in a coerced internalized false confession?

Answer 43

1) History of substance abuse
2) Difficulty distinguishing fact from reality
3) mental state issues (severe anxiety, confusion, guilt)

Question 44

What is the Kassin Paradigm used for?

Answer 44

To study false confessions in a lab.

Question 45

What is the process of the Kassin Paradigm?

Answer 45

A confederate dictates letters that the participant must type, if they hit the ALT key they are told all data will be lost. Then stage a computer crash and accuse the person of hitting ALT.

Question 46

What were the results of the Kassin Paradigm?

Answer 46

All confessed when a witness was present, 2/3 later made statements that they believed their confessions and manufactured explanations.

Question 47

What are the consequences of false confessions?

Answer 47

Confessions are the most damaging pieces of evidence that can be presented at trail, even coerced confessions are shown to affect jurors verdicts although they indicate they have not been affected.

Question 48

What are the 3 criteria for having a confession admitted in to court?

Answer 48

1) Confession must be voluntary
2) Defendant must be competent when confession is given
3) Confession must be made to a person of authority