POST: "False confessions: A former detective's perspective," published by Life After Innocence," (Loyola School of Law) on January 22, 2014.
GIST: "Per the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project, Trainum does not describe a hostile environment where loose-cannon cops browbeat witnesses and wreck emotional havoc on frightened suspects with utter impunity. If anything, Trainum’s revealing explanation of the detective’s role in an interrogation – “sorting through the half-truths” – presents the wrongful conviction process as disturbingly humdrum, rational, and routine. He conducted the proper tests. He spoke calmly and did not make threats. But ever since he unwittingly procured a false confession more than 20 years ago, Trainum has been re-tracing his mistakes and advocating for interrogation reform as a result.........As for Trainum, while his openness (he also spoke on This American Life in October 2013) may lead to justice for Kim Crafton, the wrongfully convicted woman, he and the city for which he worked may also be found liable. According to this article from roughly four months ago, Trainum’s detailed public breakdown of how his interrogation yielded a false confession provided Crafton with “ammunition” to sue Trainum and the District of Columbia for coercing her confession. Crafton’s lawsuit in particular blames her confession on Trainum’s use of the controversial Reid technique of interrogation, which is no longer used by the Metropolitan Police Department."
The entire post can be found at:
https://lifeafterinnocence.wordpress.com/2015/01/22/false-confessions-a-former-detectives-perspective/
See Washington City Paper story: "Crafton's lawsuit blames her confession in part on Trainum's use of the Reid technique, an interrogation method that has been criticized for producing false confessions. An MPD (Metropolitan Police Department) official not authorized to speak about pending lawsuits tells LL that MPD detectives are no longer trained in that interrogation style."
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/looselips/2014/09/04/district-sued-over-this-american-life-revelations-of-false-confession/
See also: Joseph Buckley, President of Reid and Associates, defends "The Reid Technique" in a letter sent to The Charles Smith Blog in response to another post;
"It
is often stated that the Reid Technique "shows no interest in learning
the truth, but the goal is to seek a confession." We clearly state the
exact opposite in our book Criminal Interrogation and Confessions (5th edition 2013) on page 5: "The
purpose of an interrogation is to learn the truth. A common
misperception exists in believing that the purpose of an interrogation
is to elicit a confession.... If the suspect can be eliminated [from
suspicion] based on his or her behavior or explanations offered during
the interrogation, the interrogation must be considered successful
because the truth was learned."
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-reid-technique-joseph-buckley.htmlPUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com.
Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
