The Pros And Cons Of False Confessions

There has been many cases of people getting put in jail for crimes they did not commit. There has also been many cases where these innocent people lose years of their life in prison for it. Some of these people who were put in jail innocent fought through it and had hope and one day were proven innocent and set free. Ari Melber, a publisher for NBC News states that: ‘’In 2017 around 149 people spent and average of 15 years in prison’’ (Jailed). This number is only going to get worse if our current legal system doesn't do anything to fix it. One major problem with our current legal system is the abuse of victims false confessions. Many victims are starting to give false confessions for a crime they were charged with. A research study from Brandon

When they say there confession in their own language it can be misinterpreted by lawyers and police to make it say what they want to hear which leaves the victim at a disadvantage. False confessions are miscommunicated by detectives and police because the victim speaks a different language. An example of this happening is with the case of Angel Gonzalez. Angel Gonzalez is a Hispanic man who was convicted of kidnap and rape in 1995. When Angel was arrested for this crime and taken in by police he knew little English. He struggled to talk to the police when he was being interrogated by them. After hours of interrogation Angel was asked to write a confession in Spanish that was later translated to English. In Angels original confession there was many flaws. A report from The National Registrations of Exonerations that was studying Angels’ case states that:’’Although, Angels confession had many mistakes. His confession said both men grabbed the victim and both covered her mouth. These details were never said by the victim.’’ ‘’Gonzalez had no knowledge of where the rape took place. He described a different location than the location said by the victim. To add on to that, the victim said she was raped in two locations. Gonzalez said she was raped in one spot.’’ (Angel). When the detectives and lawyers saw these inaccuracies in Angels confession they changed it to what they wanted

The first example I want to use is involving the case of Amanda Knox. Amanda Knox was convicted of murdering Meredith Kercher in Italy. When Amanda was being interrogated by police in the beginning, she was being pressured by police to admit to a crime she did not do. They also pressured her to accuse another man of the crime when she knew that other person did not do it as well. Knox was pressured by police and detectives to accuse another person for the murder of Meredith Kercher. She was also pressured by police into lying and saying that she was in the cottage at the time of the death of Meredith Kercher. Amanda even faced some consequences for not lying to the police and give a false confession. For not giving into the pressure by police Amanda Knox wasted four years of her life in prison. Later on Amanda was tricked into signing a document given by her interrogators stating that she did commit the crime. A case study on Amanda Knox by Steven Sehterie, a former student at USC found that:‘’Knox signed a document typed out by her interrogators. After a hard interrogation from at least twelve police men, repeatedly slapping on the back of her head and calling her a stupid liar, Knox signed her name on the prepared document.’’(False). Amanda Knox being pressured and hit by police to write a false confession is a good