Brenton knew very well what he was doing, but he felt that he needed to falsely confess to get himself out of the interrogation room. Thanks to scientific advances, we are now able to analyze DNA taken from crime scenes. This is significant because it enabled the wrongfully accused to prove that they did not commit the crime for which they falsely confessed. In 2004, Drizin and Leo studied 125 of these cases to determine the causes. Physical and psychological coercion have been found to induce false confessions, especially in children.
This is why the evidence used to convict said people was not legitimate. The evidence used to incriminate these individuals included, public confession and ownership of the “devil’s mark”. Ocksreider states, “...The magistrates openly encouraged public confessions. To elicit such confessions, the prosecuted were often subjected to stand for lengthy periods without sleep or food while being questioned” (Pg. 14).
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.
For the past two decades, “The Innocence Project” with the help of updated science methods have worked relentlessly to get innocent people out of prison. Through DNA testing, they have been able to find new evidence that have freed hundreds of prisoners who were wrongfully convicted. Other factors such as eyewitness misidentification, false confessions, government misconduct, and inadequate defense also played keys roles in the wrongful convictions. The case that I would I would like to highlight today is that of, Johnnie Lindsey. Johnnie Lindsey was a 30-year old laundry worker who was falsely accused of rape.
On the other hand, the level of torture used in developed countries is considered acceptable in comparison with the level of torture used in under developed countries where there are no limits even if it reaches death. Society may argue that guilty deserve punishment. Nevertheless, some interrogators resort to extending beneficial offers to their detainees to avoid the use of torture such as witness protection also known as Witness Security Program (WITSEC) run by the department of justice that is intended to defend witnesses during their
The first step of the Reid Technique, a similar coercive technique to the one Inbau devised, was to watch the suspect and determine whether or not he or she is lying during the interrogation based on behavioral analysis; which is severely flawed and does not actually help us determine if someone is lying. The police then determine if the suspect is guilty and continuously interrogate, accuse, and even threaten the suspect for hours until they confess, whether they are guilty or not. On many occasions the people who are coerced into false confessions are have severe mental impairments that prevent them from functioning as a normal person with out the impairments would.
Evidence proved this with the publicity of the Abu Ghraib incident, where many inmates were tortured by United States soldiers. These soldiers were convicted for their crimes but it was taken care of “in house” as people would say. The United Nations did not persecute the said soldiers further than the United States military court, nor did they investigate the claims of the soldiers that they were under orders. Although the United States used torture to great effect in the past, torture is cruel, inhumane, and has no place in modern society. Torture is cruel, it leaves the victims devastated both physically and mentally.
In fact there has been much research showing the problems with eyewitness testimony such as suggestive police interviewing, unconscious transference, and malleability of confidence (Campbell & Denov, 2016, p.227). All of these components lead to eyewitness error and essentially false incrimination. Secondly, another factor that can contribute to wrongful conviction is the use of jailhouse informants. Campbell & Denov (2016), describe jailhouse informants as prisoner informants that “provide information to law enforcement officials in exchange for money, property, or the promise of leniency in sentencing” (p. 229). This can be problematic because jurors place value on the
George Galloway once said “ Anyone will say anything under torture”. Torture is used in different ways, But mostly torture is used to gather information from someone that is believed to be involved in a terrorist act. So I think torture should be legal to use when needing to get information although I think there should be precautions to take before you torture. Everyday there could be torture going on in the government secretly on many people because these people are believed to have information on terrorism or terrorist attack. A professor at Harvard Law school Alan M. Dershowitz said “ A carefully designed judicial procedure is more likely to reduce the amount of torture actually conducted, by creating accountability and a
Levin explains that torture can be morally mandatory, justified, and can prevent future evils. “There are situations in which torture is not merely permissible but morally mandatory” (Levin 605). Levin’s quote states that torture could be morally mandatory depending on the situation. If one was in a situation where torturing one terrorist in order to save 500 people was needed, would they do it? Morals come into play, and disregarding those morals could have major consequences.