More handpicked essays just for you.
Introduction interrogation police
Essay on methods of police interrogation
Interrogation and false confession
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Tragically, the Guildford Four and the Norfolk Four cases share many similarity despite the fact that they happened two decades. In both cases four innocent people found themselves incarcerated for falsely confessing to crimes they did commit due to cognitive error.
In both cases, confirmation bias and investigative bias played a considerable role in all eight false confessions; as well as psychological coercion and the abuse of power by investigators when interrogating the suspects. Many situational and individual factors came into play during the case such as the amount of time all eight were interrogated, intrinsic and extrinsic evidence/ maximization used against them. For example, both Joe Dick and Carole Richardson were the most susceptible to psychological manipulation. Joe because of possible cognitive reasoning’s that I personally feel weren’t mentioned, but was implied; Richardson because of substance abuse during the period in which she was investigated.
In the Norfolk four case intrinsic evidence such as DNA testing, polygraph results being withheld, along with Joe’s suggestibility,
…show more content…
Detective Fords abuse of power and his intimidating “bulldog” demeanor when confronting the four suspects, Danial, Joe, Eric and Derrick; lead these men to confess to the rape-murder of Michelle. It’s also very important to note that the threat of the death penalty heavily influenced how the case was handled and the outcome because the Norfolk four’s attorneys at the time were more concerned with protecting them from the death penalty rather than proving their actual innocents, one example is Joe Dick’s attorney. Unlike the Norfolk four case was a rape murder case, the Guildford four case involved a terrorist group called the (IRA).
The Irish Republican Army during the 1970’s were responsible for various bombings in England; that lead to the creation of the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 1974. The Prevention of Terrorism Act made “membership of and support for the IRA an offense” (p.47). It also gave the British government the power to arrest and restrict citizens and detain them for forty-eight hours- five days by extension even with sufficient evidence. This lead to the arrest of Paul Hill, Gerard Conlon Patrick Armstrong and Carole Richardson. Unlike the Norfolk four, these individuals were subjected to harsher treatments due to the nature of the crime and recent passing of the terrorist bill. For example, while the Norfolk four weren’t physically harmed, the Guildford
were. Paul Hill was beaten, held at gun point during interrogation and had the lives of his girlfriend and unborn baby threatened; the same happened to Conlon and Richardson who happened to be under the influence of drugs. Despite the lack of evidence, inconsistences between confessions and strong alibis all four were still found guilty and sentenced. It wasn’t until the re-opening of the case were new evidence revealed that the prosecution failed in disclosing that a witness had identified and corroborated Conlon’s alibi and that the police officers had lied and fabricated evidence, did the Guildford’s sentencing got overturned. I feel that in the Guildford case discrimination against the Irish play a good role. My reasoning being that at the time tension between the British and Irish citizens was at an all-time high and that anyone who was Irish would have been unfairly discriminated against because of the terrorism prevention bill.
This illustrates the refusal of the rights of victims and the inevitable denial of justice for society. The coronial inquest that was conducted in 2011, corrected some of the initial issues with the investigation. Before the inquest, vital DNA evidence was disposed of, as a result of human error, which meant that the likely suspect could not be identified. As a result of human error the inquest provided some form of justice for society but due to how late it was conducted the family did not receive justice
In this position paper I have chosen Bloodsworth v. State ~ 76 Md.App. 23, 543 A.2d 382 case to discuss on whether or not the forensic evidence that was submitted for this case should have been admissible or not. To understand whether or not the evidence should be admissible or not we first have to know what the case is about.
Because police investigators are usually under pressure to arrest criminals and safeguard the community, they often make mistakes. Sometimes, detectives become convinced of a suspect 's guilt because of their criminal history or weak speculations. Once they are convinced, they are less likely to consider alternative possibilities. They overlook some important exculpatory evidence, make weak speculations and look only for links that connect a suspect to a crime, especially if the suspect has a previous criminal record. Picking Cotton provides an understanding of some common errors of the police investigation process. During Ronald Cottons interrogation, the detectives did not bother to record the conversation “But I noticed he wasn 't recording the conversation, so I felt that he could be writing anything down”(79) unlike they did for Jennifer. They had already labelled Ronald Cotton as the perpetrator and they told him during the interrogation “Cotton, Jennifer Thompson already identified you. We know it was you”(82). Jenifer Thompson 's testimony along with Ronald Cotton 's past criminal records gave the detectives more reason to believe Ronald committed the crime. Ronald Cotton stated “ This cop Sully, though, he had already decided I was guilty.”(84). Many investigative process have shortcomings and are breached because the officials in charge make
In order to incriminate Danial Williams, Joseph Dick, Eric Wilson, and Derek Tice with the rape and murder of Michelle Moore-Bosko, Detectives Maureen Evans and Robert Ford conducted long, grueling interrogation sessions using many provocative and manipulative tactics. Throughout this process, Ford and Evans coerced the suspects into renegotiating their perception of the crime until an entirely new reality was created. This new reality evolved as the police elicited additional confessionary evidence to account for each new piece of physical evidence from the crime scene. Eventually, in an iterative process that had police editing their theories of the crime and then forcing the suspects to claim this new reality as their own, the reconciled reality of the crime became one that was consistent with both the criminal evidence and the suspects’ new perception. An analysis of empirical m...
The first suspect is Edward “Bennie” Bedwell. Bedwell was a local dishwasher who was questioned at a local motel for three days (Sigona). What supported Bedwell as a suspect is that he actually confessed to the murder (Sigona). There were multiple problems with Bedwell’s confession, however. The first problem with his confession is, “Bedwell couldn’t read or write, so it would be nearly impossible for him to understand what he was confessing to” (Sigona). The second problem with his confession is “After a time, everyone realized Bedwell’s story didn’t add up. There were inconsistencies, including the fact that Bedwell said he was with the girls for a month before they died” (Sigona). Finally, the main problem with his confession is that the girls were dead within four hours of leaving home (Sigona). The other suspect in the case of the murder of Barbara and Patricia Grimes is Max Fleig. Max Fleig was a young man in his teens when the Grimes sisters were murdered (MacGowan). Max offered to take a lie detector test, which he failed (MacGowan). The reason Fleig was released even after failing the test is “The police began to focus on him as a prime suspect until they were told that it was illegal to polygraph someone underage. The police released him, many of the authorities thinking he was their man” (MacGowan). Another example that supports Fleig as a suspect is that he was imprisoned later in his life
The Central Park Jogger case is one of false confessions to a crime, with a little help from police, which the defendants did not commit. Evidence taken at the crime scene did exclude the defendants, however, because of videotaped confessions they were sentenced to prison for a crime they admitted to committing even though they did not. It was not until many years later did the original perpetrator step forward from prison to admit he was the one who committed the crime with evidence (DNA) and firsthand knowledge of the scene. The five original defendants were released from prison but until serving a lengthy term. There are cues that can be noticed when investigators are conducting preliminary interviews that have a very high rate of success in determining the guilt or innocence of an individual. Some of these cues may be verbal such as a rehearsed response (Kassin, 2005). Other types of cues may be nonverbal body language such as a slouching (Kassin, 2005).
Some people think that if they could only change one aspect of their lives, it would be perfect. They do not realize that anything that is changed could come with unintended consequences. “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs and “The Third Wish” by Joan Aiken both illustrate this theme. They demonstrate this by granting the main character three wishes, but with each wish that is granted, brings undesirable consequences. The main idea of this essay is to compare and contrast “The Monkey’s Paw” and “The Third Wish.” Although the “The Monkey’s Paw” and “The Third Wish” are both fantasies and have similar themes, they have different main characters, wishes, and resolutions.
...igations today has a huge impact on false confessions. The Reid Technique is being criticized in the media because of its guilt-presumptive, aggressive, and psychologically manipulative nature. It is based on a series of assumptions that lack scientific support, and by using it they are creating hostile and coercive environment for the interrogation. The fact that they try to pass these confessions off as voluntary should also be an issue against using them since we know they are usually coerced. There are two alternatives to the Reid technique being used to interview suspects. These do not use coercion and manipulation to get confessions. The first is the PEACE Model, which is an interview technique that is more ethical, and the other technique is Cognitive interviewing which is used by police as a memory technique used to enhance the retrieval of their memory.
ways, such as not having DNA evidence, not enough information about the crime, and lastly
After reviewing the article “Inside Interrogation: The Lie, The Bluff, and False Confessions”, it became very evident the huge problem with interrogations and false confessions in the criminal justice system is with false confession. Jennifer T. Perillo and Saul M. Kassin crafted three distinct experiments to try and better understand false confessions and how trues the actual numbers in real life are. What Perillo and Kassin were trying to prove is that “the bluff technique should elicit confessions from perpetrators but not from innocents” (Perillo, Kassin 2010). What is called the “Bluff Technique” is an interrogation technique that uses a sort of threat or hint that there is certain proof that a person will think is more of a promise for
The Irish Republican Army was a well-known terrorist organization originating in Dublin, Ireland. The IRA (Irish republican Army) used irregular military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, and petty warfare against the United Kingdom. The IRA raged Guerilla warfare against the British, creating the Irish War of Independence. Even though the Irish Republic Army is no longer active, in their time they wreaked havoc any many different people. In this essay, the description of the group, historical and past events of the group and recent activities will be discussed.
"Know the Cases." Innocence Project. Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, n.d. Web. 1 Mar 2011. .
One such case is, that of Engin Raghip of the so-called ‘Tottenham three’ will be discussed in the context of admissibility of psychological evidence in order to demonstrate how the judiciary has increasingly come to accept the psychological notion that most people, under certain circumstances, are susceptible to making false confessions. In order to better understand why people confess to crimes they have not committed, Kassin and Wrightman (1985) proposed a conceptual framework that divides false confessions in two main categories, voluntary or coerced. Voluntary false confessions are offered without any external pressure and coerced false confessions are elicited by the police.
On March 20, 1972 at 11:45 a.m. an anonymous phone call was made to police headquarters in Belfast, Northern Ireland warning of a bomb in crowded Church Street (Fisk 2). At 11:52 a.m. a second emergency call reached police headquarters confirming the threat of a bomb (Fisk 2). The police made efforts to evacuate the street as quickly as possible. Then, at 11:55 a.m. headquarters received a third emergency call warning of a bomb, but this time the caller gave the location of the bomb to be in the adjoining Donegall Street (Fisk 2). Three minutes later a 100-pound gelignite bomb exploded in Donegall Street killing six people and wounding 147 others (Fisk 1). The bombing was a terrorist act by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), whose mission is to drive the British out of Northern Ireland.
For example, according to a CNN article entitled,” 'Blue-eyed butcher ' sentenced to 20 years,” “A medical examiner testified he was able to count 193 wounds on the body, with the actual number of stab wounds well in excess of that” (Jakobsson, 2010, para. 6). Pictures were also presented to the jury to show the disfigured body. Another piece of evidence leading to the conviction of Susan Wright was the autopsy done that showed drugs in Wright’s system. The author of CNN stated, “They also suggested she may have drugged him with gamma-hydroxybutyric acid, known as the "date-rape drug," low levels of which were found in Jeffrey Wright 's system” (Jakobsson, 2010, paragraph 10). One last conclusive piece of visual evidence was the presence of two of Jeffrey’s ex-girlfriends. “Misty McMichael testified Wright beat her repeatedly during their two-year relationship and tried to control her every move” (Jakobsson, 2010, paragraph 13). McMichael also claimed that Wright had pushed her down the stairs 104 times and at one point even locked her in a room (Jakobsson, 2010, paragraph 14). This evidence was in favor of Susan Wright. The impact of this visual evidence was significant in many ways. Evidence is proof and proof cannot be made up, only misinterpreted. Therefore, the excessive amount of stab wounds found on Wright’s body along with the drugs found in his system was