The Purpose, Content, and Effects of Expert Testimony on Interrogations and Confessions
The purpose of expert testimony is to provide an overview of the research literature in a way that helps jurors evaluate the credibility of a particular defendant’s disputed confession. We begin by discussing the admissibility of expert testimony and how
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The ability of police to question criminal suspects is an indispensable investigative tool. Without the information and admissions gained through the process of interrogation, many guilty criminals would go free. Unfortunately, the powerful psychological techniques used to elicit true confessions from guilty suspects can sometimes elicit false confessions from innocent suspects. Although it is important to give police the tools they need to solve crimes, it is also important to protect the rights of the accused and to reach just outcomes. A confession, true or false, is often enough to send a defendant to prison. The power of a confession has been demonstrated through both laboratory and field research. For example, in a study of 125 proven false confessions, Drizin and Leo (2004) found that when suspects falsely confessed, then recanted, pled “not guilty,” and proceeded to trial, the conviction rate was 81 %. Research on more than 300 convictions overturned by DNA evidence reveals that about 24 % of wrongful convictions involve false admissions. In many of these wrongful conviction cases, a false confession was the primary or sole evidence against the defendant (www. innocenceproject.org, 2014). Controlled experiments also confirm the powerful impact of confessions. When researchers systematically compared eyewitness, character, and confession evidence, they found that confessions produced the highest conviction rate (Kassin and Neumann 1997). Furthermore, even when mock jurors recognize that a confession was coerced, they are not able to discount it when reaching a verdict (Kassin and Sukel 1997). In sum, a confession is extremely
M. Costanzo (&) Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, USA e-mail: [email protected] I. Blandón-Gitlin California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, USA D. Davis University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, USA © Springer International Publishing AG 2016 B.H. Bornstein and M.K. Miller (eds.), Advances in Psychology and Law, Advances in Psychology and Law 2, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-43083-6_5
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difficult for jurors to discount or ignore, even if that confession is false, even if it is coerced, and even when there is little corroborating evidence. In this chapter, we argue that the use of expert testimony on interrogation and confessions is one effective means of assisting jurors and judges in their duty to find the truth and reach just verdicts. We review the research literature on police interrogations and false confessions, with an emphasis on the usefulness of this research for providing expert testimony at trial. Because all three of the authors have testified as expert witnesses on confessions, we also offer insights from our experiences in court.
True, False, and Ambiguous Confessions A confession can be true, false, or ambiguous in veracity. We can often be sure that a criminal confession is true because the information revealed by the confessor is strongly supported by other evidence in the case. For example, there is often medical evidence, or DN
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