False confessions have been getting a lot of attention for a while now based on the many, many cases in which false confessions have been proven by DNA evidence. The science of false confessions is nothing, if not fascinating, and it demonstrates how vulnerable we all are to our legal system’s complexities and nuances.
If you are facing a criminal charge of any kind, the sooner you consult with an experienced Round Rock criminal defense attorney, the better protected your rights will be.
An Officer’s Pattern of Obtaining False Confessions
Consider a story covered by Texas Monthly. They describe a certain Austin police officer who joined the force in 1976 and, after serving years as a patrolman, became a homicide cop. The man was considered charismatic and was often featured in the Austin American-Statesman for nabbing bad guys and rescuing infants.
The detective worked his way up to the position of supervisor in the homicide department – with a long list of commendations backing him up.
After a long and storied career, one defense attorney summed the detective up as having a convict-at-any-cost mentality. When the detective retired, he had a long list of confessions under his belt and a reputation for false confessions. Some of those who were brutally coerced into confessing on this detective’s watch have gone on to be exonerated.
A Death Sentence Stayed
The Independent reports on the case of Melissa Lucio, which is described as being a profound example of how an extremely vulnerable person can be manipulated by pressure from an interrogator into implicating themself in a crime they did not commit.
Lucio was interrogated for five hours through the night just two hours after her two-year-old daughter’s death in 2007. The child didn’t wake up from her nap, and medical professionals determined that she’d died as a result of head trauma.
It was later determined that the young girl’s head injury may have been the result of a tumble down the stairs that one of her siblings witnessed two days prior. The investigators, however, didn’t believe she had fallen and decided that the child was a victim of physical abuse, which led to a focused interrogation of Lucio before an autopsy – or investigation – could be performed.
Some of the problems with the interrogation or Lucio, according to the author, include all the following:
To begin, the investigators decided that Lucio’s controlled demeanor in the face of her young child’s tragic death was a sign of her guilty conscience, which drove the guilt-presumptive interrogation.
The interrogators used a controversial interrogation technique that presumes guilt and employs psychological manipulation to coerce confessions out of people. The two primary components include maximization of the suspect’s anxiety and minimization of the act itself – in a sort of natural progression.
The interrogators showed no compassion for Lucio’s shock, sleep deprivation, grief, or vulnerabilities to false confession, which include a below-average IQ, a high tendency to compliance and suggestibility, and a history of childhood trauma.
The officers forced Lucio to act out the alleged beating of her daughter on a doll, telling her to hit the doll even harder.
At the end of the session, Lucio told the officers who had interrogated her that she wished she was dead.
In the United States, officers are generally allowed to lie to and otherwise deceive suspects and manipulate their vulnerabilities, despite the fact that these techniques are scientifically linked to false confessions and are illegal in many other countries.
Lucio was granted a stay just days before her execution was scheduled to occur in 2022. In April of 2024, the original judge in her case recommended that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals – which is the only court in the state that can do so – overturn her conviction and death sentence.
The Science of False Confessions
Psychology Today reports that according to the National Registry of Exonerations, more than 2,500 people have been exonerated since 1989, and about 12 percent of these had falsely confessed to the crimes they were accused of.
False confessions happen, and while many people believe they would never confess to something they had not done, it’s not quite that simple.
The article groups false confessions into three primary categories.
Voluntary False Confessions
Voluntary false confessions are related to the confessor’s internal psychological state or internal pressures that are brought to bear on them. This pressure can come from any outside party or from a person in a position of authority, such as a police officer.
Voluntary false confessions include those where the individuals want credit for the crime in question – for reasons that are difficult for most of us to understand – or when they are attempting to protect someone else.
The police tend to be very skeptical of people who come forward with confessions, which often happens after particularly newsworthy crimes.
This category of confession is closely associated with factors like the following:
Seeking attention
Being out of touch with reality
Having a desire to punish oneself
Underlying psychological or psychiatric disorders are frequently involved.
Persuaded False Confessions
Persuaded false confessions are also called internalized false confessions, and they relate to interrogation techniques that convince the person that they genuinely committed the crime when they did not.
This can be a temporary or permanent condition, and it happens despite the fact that the person doing the confessing has no memory of actually committing the crime. Persuaded false confessions are closely associated with lengthy, stressful interrogations that involve factors like the following:
The officers repeatedly tell the suspect that they committed the crime in question.
The officers fabricate evidence of the suspect’s guilt. A prime example is saying that they have an eyewitness who saw the suspect committing the crime when this is simply not the case.
The officers forcefully discredit the suspect’s denials, such as by saying that the facts contradict their protestations.
The officers ultimately offer to resolve the suspect’s mental discomfort – or cognitive dissonance – by feeding them a line like, maybe you’ve repressed your memory of committing the crime.
Science supports the finding that we have more susceptibility to persuasion of this magnitude than we realize.
Compliant False Confessions
Compliant false confessions are associated with a desire to escape a highly stressful situation, to gain an award that was promised or implied, or to avoid punishment. Compliant false confessions are made knowingly – the suspect knows that they didn’t commit the crime and knows that their confession is false.
Compliant false confessions are closely associated with torture – whether physical or emotional – or with any kind of serious physical pressure, but psychological pressure can also do the trick.
This is what happens when a police officer convinces an innocent suspect to confess because it’s their only hope of ultimately avoiding the death penalty when they inevitably are convicted due to the immense amount of evidence the police say they have.
Some compliant false confessions are associated with the suspect being so confident of their innocence that they naively believe the matter will be resolved later.
Lying on the Part of Investigators
A common theme in most false confession cases is lying on the part of the investigators. The bottom line is that the police generally are within their rights when they lie to suspects in an interrogation setting. Let’s break this down. The detective or officer who is interrogating you has all the following going for them:
They are very comfortable in the interrogation setting, and they are the one asking the questions.
They have the legal right to lie to you.
They know what evidence they have and what evidence they don’t have.
They are well-versed in interrogation techniques and likely use them well.
They are working, and interrogating you happens to be part of their job.
Now let’s consider your own position, which includes all the following:
It is a crime to lie to the police.
You are likely very anxious about being interrogated in the first place.
You are likely feeling very uncomfortable in the close quarters in which you’re being interrogated.
You have no idea what kind of evidence the police have, but you have no reason to believe that they’re lying to you. The fact is that they may or may not be lying to you and you have no way of knowing which it is, which is stressful in and of itself.
You’ve been plucked from your life to be interrogated by the police.
You would likely do just about anything to get out of the situation you’re currently in.
In other words, the cards are stacked against you from the start, and some people find the pressure too much to bear.
The Tools at Your Disposal
Fortunately, you have the tools you need to never test your theory that you would never falsely confess, and these tools are your right to remain silent and your right to an attorney. You can’t be browbeaten into a false confession if you let the detective interrogating you know that you are invoking your right to remain silent and then proceed not to speak.
Further, once you let your interrogator know that you want an attorney, the officer should halt their interrogation, but even if they don’t, you have the right to remain silent, and that is exactly what you should do.
FAQ
The matter of false confessions is both fascinating and confusing, and the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions on the topic may help you with some of your own.
What is the most common misconception about false confessions?
The most common misconception about false confessions is that they never happen and that no one would confess to something they didn’t do if they didn’t have a serious psychological disorder. The truth is far more complex, and there is a considerable amount of scientific proof that perfectly healthy people do confess to crimes they didn’t commit.
What would drive an innocent person to confess?
There are a range of reasons for making a false confession that include all the following:
A drive for notoriety or attention – for example, when the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped, more than 200 people came forward with confessions
The desire to protect someone else
Coercion by someone else
Fear related to what a third party might do to them if they don’t
A genuine belief that they committed the crime, which someone who experiences blackouts might come to believe
Generally, however, false confessions are a consequence of coercive interrogation tactics.
Are those who make false confessions less intelligent?
No, those who make false confessions are not necessarily less intelligent than other people. They may, however, be less sophisticated in relation to the criminal justice system.
For instance, it’s rare for a repeat offender – or for anyone who knows their way around the criminal justice system – to make a false confession. Why? Because they know they have the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney.
Do normal people make false confessions?
Normal people absolutely do make false confessions. Being coerced into confessing something that you didn’t do isn’t a function of how normal you are but, instead, stands testament to the power of coercive interrogation techniques.
It’s Time to Consult with an Experienced Round Rock Criminal Defense Attorney
Brett Pritchard at The Law Office of Brett H. Pritchard is a seasoned Round Rock criminal defense attorney who is committed to using the full force of his impressive experience and legal insight to focus on your case’s optimal outcome.
Our trusted legal team is standing by to help you, so please don’t wait to contact or call us at 254-781-4222 to schedule your free consultation and learn more about what we can do for you today.