A false confession is where a person is compelled to admit the commission of a crime which they never committed.
People admit to crimes they did not commit due to reasons such as incompetence due, say, to a mental disorder or being a minor, police coercion, contamination, and misclassification (Leo 332). Other factors responsible for false admission of guilt include duress, intoxication, mental impairment, diminished capacity, ignorance of the law, actual infliction of harm, fear of violence, misunderstanding of the situation and threat of harsh sentences (Innocence Project Online).
According to Ryan, Police officers can avoid false confessions by videotaping their interrogation of suspects from the beginning to the end and setting reasonable time limits for their interview of suspects. They can also do this by not questioning or interrogating people with mental incapacitation or minors without the presence of their parents, legal representatives or guardians, record all interrogations and not lie to suspects (Ryan Online). By taking steps to ensure that all conversations with suspects are recorded and videotaped, law enforcement officers can ensure that there is enough evidence to be used at trial that may be used to exonerate a suspect. They should also warn suspects of their Constitutional Miranda rights against self-incrimination. The Innocence Project considers the electronic recording to police interrogations from the time Miranda rights are read to the end of the interviewing as being one of the most effective reforms for reducing incidences pf false confessions. It improves the reliability, authenticity, and credibility of confessions hence protecting the innocent.
Yes, the reading of Miranda rights to suspects influences the likelihood of false confessions in that it makes suspects alive to the fact that it is their inherent right not to incriminate themselves for crimes that they did not commit. However, the reading of these rights may not be enough to protect the innocent from wrongful convictions caused by false confessions unless the police force is reformed. Sometimes the police even convince suspects to waive their Miranda rights or are compelled to cooperate with the law enforcement officers out of fear of more charges being preferred against them.
Works Cited
Innocence Project. False Confessions or admissions. Web. 20 July 2016. <http://www.innocenceproject.org/causes/false-confessions-admissions/
>Leo, Richard A. "False Confessions: Causes, consequences, and implications." Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the lAW oNLINE 37.3 (2009): 332-343. Print.
Ryan. How do we prevent false confessions? Innocence Project of Florida. 3 Dec. 2008. Web. 20 July 2016. <http://floridainnocence.org/content/?p=420>
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