PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Charles Smith Blog is interested in false confessions because of the disturbing number of exonerations in the USA, Canada and multiple other jurisdictions throughout the world, where, in the absence of incriminating forensic evidence the conviction is based on self-incrimination – and because of the growing body of scientific research showing how vulnerable suspects (especially juveniles) are to widely used interrogation methods such as the notorious ‘Reid Technique.’
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
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POST: "Confess or they will fucking give you the needle," by Andrew Cohen, published by The Marshall Project on November 13, 2017.
GIST: ("In “Case in Point,” Andrew Cohen examines a single case or character that sheds light on the criminal justice system. An audio version of Case in Point is broadcast with The Takeaway, a public radio show from WNYC, Public Radio International, The New York Times, and WGBH-Boston Public Radio.) Recent research tells us that false confessions are more common than we previously thought and that teenagers, in particular, are vulnerable to the kind of police coercion that brings them about. The problem has been particularly acute in Chicago, where incidents of false confession, especially those involving juvenile suspects in Cook County, reportedly occur at far higher rates than they do in other jurisdictions around the country. In September, an appeals court in Illinois issued a ruling in a Chicago murder case that raises questions about the reliability of a young man’s “confession.” Police interrogators repeatedly threatened him with the death penalty even though he was ineligible for capital punishment because of his age at the time of the crime. There was no torture or physical abuse during the session. Should jurors have heard what the young man told the police?"
