PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This 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 (as well as false identification and jailhouse informants) – and because of the growing body of scientific research showing how vulnerable suspects (especially juveniles) are to widely used interrogation methods such as the controversial ‘Reid Technique.’"
Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Whatever the outcome, Reid’s huffing about its reputation and corporate bottom line will assure that millions of viewers who did not catch or appreciate passing references to the Reid Technique will now learn about this company’s methods Although the Reid Technique has been updated since 1962, it still rests largely on old beliefs about behavioral psychology and the wishful notion that police officers can become foolproof human lie detectors. Once they have concluded from body language and words that a suspect is lying, Reid trains interrogating officers to reject denials of guilt. It teaches officers they may isolate vulnerable suspects in custody, falsely pose as the suspect’s friend or ally, minimize guilt or consequences to induce a confession, even lie to a suspect by claiming nonexistent evidence. It is confrontational, which can be intimidating. For some officers, it can become about confessions, not about truth. The results? The National Registry of Exonerations documents that almost one out of eight wrongfully convicted innocent people confessed falsely: about 12%, 304 of 2,503. When you consider youth and mental illness or disability, the percentages skyrocket as those in custody become younger or impaired. Because the Reid Technique has been used almost exclusively since the mid-1970s in the United States, a fair inference is that many of these confessions occurred with police officers who were, or thought they were, using the Reid Technique. Much of the world has moved on to newer, more reliable, non-confrontational interview techniques. America has not."
STORY: "Now We See You: The Reid Technique and ‘When They See Us’, by Nancy Gertner and Dean Strang, published by The New York Law Review on November 14, 2019. (Nancy Gertner is a retired federal judge of the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, who left the bench to teach at the Harvard Law School. Dean Strang is a criminal defense lawyer, a visiting professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law, the author of two books of legal history, and one of Steven Avery’s trial lawyers in the cases in Netflix’s ‘Making A Murderer’.)
SUB-HEADING: "Reid never has acknowledged an uncomfortable truth that this lawsuit may expose if Duvernay and Netflix win: that is, that the Reid Technique, whether used correctly or incorrectly, can cause incalculable harm to innocent people and to justice itself."
GIST: (This story should be read in it's entirety at the link below - sign up for three free articles and you may well want to read more given the high standards of this well-respected law journal - for now, here is a taste.) "You
may not have heard of John E. Reid and Associates, a Chicago firm
that teaches law enforcement officers interrogation techniques. But you
will now. Choosing two snippets from When They See Us, Ava Duvernay’s
blockbuster series on the false confessions that New York police
elicited from five teenaged boys in the Central Park jogger case, Reid
has sued Duvernay and the distributor, Netflix, for defamation. It
contends that the two bits of dialog—one referring to Reid’s
interrogation technique as universally rejected and the other suggesting
that the lengthy, arduous interrogations of the five teenagers were
consistent with the technique—were false and damaged its reputation and
business. Duvernay and Netflix may be able to defend on grounds that the
disputed brief statements are true, or opinion, or within dramatic
license. But Reid’s lawsuit raises deeper issues and reveals something
about the firm itself. The lawsuit picks a precarious path. On one side, Reid
claims—correctly—to be the leading trainer of police interrogation
techniques in the country. On the other side, though, when courts find
that interrogations by those trained in the Reid Technique have produced
false confessions, Reid denies any fault: Interrogators must have
misapplied the techniques. Reid is like Betty Crocker. If your cake
isn’t so great, you must not have followed exactly the instructions on
the box. Reid never has acknowledged an uncomfortable truth that this lawsuit
may expose if Duvernay and Netflix win: that is, that the Reid
Technique, whether used correctly or incorrectly, can cause incalculable
harm to innocent people and to justice itself. "
The entire story can be read at:
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
