Police Investigations Flashcards
Police interrogations
process whereby police interview a suspect for the purpose of gathering information and obtaining a confession
Brown v. Mississippi
whipping to obtain a confession
goals of police interview
obtain admissible statements from suspect
- admissible = can be corroborated
- statements that fit with the evidence gathered
all interviews must be conducted within the constraints of the law
- provable lies
Psychological coercion
“necessary evil”?
- lying about evidence
- promising lenient treatment
- implying threats to loved ones
Mr. Big technique
noncustodial procedure that happens outside interrogation room
Smith et al.
- undercover officer pose as member of criminal organization and recruit suspect
- to be accepted for ‘bigger job’ must confess to a serious crime to the ‘boss’
- why: insurance for gang, so they can make problem ‘disappear’
-75% success rate, 95% conviction rate
- new rulings may make this more difficult to use
R v. Mack
mr big technique used
R v. Mentuck
Mr big technique used
R v. Hart
- burden of proof is on crown to show that probative value of mr. big outweighs prejudicial effect
- any action that causes confession to be coerced may be deemed unacceptable
- unclear on meaning of this
Inbau et al.
book “criminal interrogation and confessions”
- outlines reid model
- plain interrogation room
- evidence folder in hand
- suspect alone in interrogation suite prior
Reid Model
- developed by John Reid
-9 step model of interrogation used frequently in North America (not canada) to extract confessions from suspects - stage 1: gather evidence and interview witnesses
- stage 2: non accusatory interview
- stage 3: accusatory interview
Steps:
1. confront with guilt
2. psychological themes to justify
3. Interrupt denial attempts
4. overcome objection to charges
5. ensure have attention
6. exhibit sympathy
7. offer explanations (face saving)
8. develop admission of guilt to full confession
9. written and signed confession
what is the reid model based on?
people make choices that they think will maximize their well being given constraints they face
- consequences of confession become more desirable than anxiety of deception
minimization technique
soft sell, lull into false sense of security
maximization technique
scare tactic, intimidate suspect
Kassin et al.
survey of 631 investigations
- parts of reid model used: isolating suspects, build rapport
- less common but still used: providing justifications, implying/ pretending to have evidence
King and Snook
analysis of police interrogations used
- number of Reid techniques used did relate to interrogation outcomes but may be due to other factors
Problems with Reid model
deception detection
- police must determine suspect is guilty when claiming innocence
- little research support at accurate detection
investigator bias
- police already formed belief and seek out and interpret information that supports this belief
Miranda V. Arizona
Miranda rights
Eastwood and Snook
- ppl have difficulty understanding cautions
- written format = better comprehension
Eastwood et al.
high school students understand 40% of material in rights waiver
Charter Rights and Freedoms
section 10b
- right upon arrest to retain and instruct counsel without delay and to be informed of this right
Section 7
- right to life liberty and security and right to not be deprived (R v. Herbert) right to silence
R v. Singh
right to silence, made incriminating statements
- did not violate his rights
R v. Oickle
confession rule
- statements must be voluntary
R v. Chapple
free will compromised
- confession rule
PEACE model
P- planning and preparation E- engage and explain A- account C- closure E- evaluation
Phased interview Model
RCMP interview technique
- over laps with peace model
admitting confessions
- fear of prejudice or hope of advantage= VOLUNTARY
- competent = OPERATING MIND
- atmosphere of oppression = EXTERNAL PRESSURES
- police trickery/ globe and mail test = SO APPALLING AS TO SHOCK THE COMMUNITY
false confession
confession either intentionally fabricated or not based on actual knowledge of the facts that form its contents
Retracted confession
confessor later declares to be false
disputed confessions
confessions that are disputed at trial
frequency of false confessions
- 0.6-12%
- around 25% false convictions of US cases, Canada 16%
- ~40% of young offenders reported making 1 false confession
Voluntary false confessions
provided without any elicitation from the police
- morbid desire for notoriety
- unable to distinguish fact from fantasy
- need to make up for pathological feelings of guilt by receiving punishment
- desire to protect someone else
- confess to a lesser crime
Charles Lindbergh
200 people falsely confessed to crime of kidnapping and murder
John Mark Karr
falsely confessed to killing 6 year old - voluntary confession
Coerced- compliant false confession
confession from desire to escape a coercive interrogation environment or gain a benefit promised by the police
- escape further interrogation
- gain promised benefit
- avoid threatened punishment
- family/ organized crime pressures
R v. M.J.S.
coerced - compliant false confession of abusing his own baby
coerced - internalized false confessions
results from suggestive interrogation techniques, whereby confessor actually comes to believe they committed the crime
- temporary and usually recant right after
- history of substance abuse or other interference with brain function
- inability to detect discrepancies between what they observed and what has been erroneously suggested to them
- factors associated with mental state
Billy Wayne Cope
coerced internalized false confession of raping and killing his 12 year old daughter
- when DNA evidence proved wasn’t him years later, police said it was his DNA to wife, then charged with conspiracy
compliance
tendency to go along with demands made by people perceived to be in authority even though the person may not agree with them
internalization
the acceptance of guilt for an act, even if the person did not actually commit the act
confabulation
the reporting of events that never actually occurred
consequences of false confessions
suspect - conviction
police/public - waste of time/ resources and suspect remains at large
