Videotaped Confessions: Panacea or Pandora's Box?

Videotape is becoming an increasingly common means of recording and presenting confessions that are obtained during custodial interrogations. Many scientific, legal, and political experts view this procedural advance as a solution to the growing problem of some innocent people being induced to incriminate themselves when confronted by standard police interrogation tactics. We review a program of research that indicates, however, that the indiscriminate application of videotaping to solve the problem of coerced or false confessions slipping through the system could ironically exacerbate the situation.     

High-Risk Interrogation: Using the “Mr. Big Technique” to Elicit Confessions

Kassin et al. (Police-Induced Confessions: Risk Factors and Recommendation, 2009) provide a detailed and thoughtful analysis of how police interrogation practices might elicit false confessions from innocent suspects. The purpose of this commentary is to provide a brief review of a relatively recent development in Canadian police investigation practice and discuss how this procedure may increase the likelihood of police-induced false confessions. The so-called “Mr. Big Technique” is a non-custodial interrogation tactic wherein suspects are drawn into a supposed criminal organization (actually an elaborate police sting) and subsequently told that to move up in the organization, they must confess to a crime. In this article, we describe this remarkable interrogation technique and discuss issues relevant to the potential induction of false confessions.     

论重复自白排除规则的完善

通过分析21例重复自白排除典型案例可以发现法官通常仅排除被告人的一部分重复自白,很少全部排除。在普通刑事案件中违法取供行为主要为刑讯逼供。在重复自白排除的证明程序中,同步录音录像发挥着重要作用,重复自白被采纳的主要原因是自白具有任意性,但同时也存在着证明责任错位等问题。为了更好的平衡被追诉人权利保障与打击犯罪的需要,应当重塑重复自白排除的功能,实现从任意性保障到威慑理论的转变。应当扩宽违法取供的行为范围,明确监察阶段的调查行为也应当被纳入规范,完善重复自白排除的证明程序。     

Justice,Context, and Violence: Law Enforcement Officers on Why They Torture

How do police explain their support for torture? Findings from 12 months of fieldwork with police in India complicate previous researchers’ claims that violence workers tend to morally disengage and blame circumstances for their actions. The officers in this study engage in moral reflection on torture, drawing on their beliefs about human nature and justice to explain their support for it. They admit that they use torture more widely than their own conceptions of justice allow, but see this as an imperfect implementation of their principles rather than as a violation of them. Previous research on the spread of human rights norms has focused on how these norms can be adapted to the local beliefs that support them, rather than on understanding the beliefs that conflict with human rights. I argue that illuminating the self‐understanding of state actors who support or engage in torture is crucial to building theory on why such violence occurs, as well as to designing interventions to prevent it.     

Improving the Comprehensibility of a Canadian Police Caution on the Right to Silence

Modifications to a Canadian police caution on the right to silence were made in an attempt to increase its comprehensibility. University participants were asked to imagine themselves in an arrest and interrogation situation in which they were either innocent or guilty. It was hypothesized that participants who received the modified caution would score significantly higher on measures of comprehension than those who received the standard caution. Results indicated that comprehension was significantly higher among those that received the modified caution and that those with higher comprehension scores were more likely to exercise their right to silence. These findings suggest that clarifying and standardizing how a detainee’s rights are communicated will lead to better comprehension and greater protection against false or coerced confessions.     

审前重复供述的排除问题研究

在非法证据排除规则确立后,审前重复供述的排除问题浮出水面.从确保非法证据排除规则有效实施、消极的实证真实发现主义、人权保障以及遏制刑讯的角度看,审前重复供述应该排除.非法取证行为的持续影响效力理论是排除审前重复供述的依据,排除审前重复供述的标准是刑讯逼供等非法行为与重复供述之间存在因果关系.具体来说,排除重复供述,需要有刑讯逼供等非法取供行为,且该行为对被追诉人产生了较大影响,使其供述自由受到了较大限制.排除非法口供后,可反驳地推定重复供述不具有可采性.控方如欲使用重复供述,需要证明不存在因果关系.排除重复供述可能会遇到诸多障碍,需要通过法官独立司法维护司法公正.     

Police interviewing styles and confessions in Japan

Psychological studies of suspects' confessions have been conducted mostly in English-speaking and European countries, and the results may not generalise to countries whose cultures and policing practices differ. In particular, the difference between Japanese and Western laws may affect the roles that police interviewers play in suspects' confessions. This study examined the interviewing techniques used by Japanese police officers and associated features of the suspects' confessions. An extensive questionnaire was completed by 276 police officers across Japan. Detailed ratings of their interview techniques were factor analysed, yielding five factors: Presentation of Evidence, Confrontation, Rapport Building, Active Listening, and Discussion of the Crime. Based on these five factors, we identified four interviewing styles: Evidence-focused, Confrontational, Relationship-focused, and Undifferentiated. When interrogators employed the Relationship-focused interviewing style, suspects were more likely to make full confessions and to provide new information. By contrast, suspects were more likely to make partial confessions and were less cooperative when the police officers employed an Evidence-focused style.     

Confessions and denials and the relationship with personality

Purpose. The main aim of the study was to examine the reasons and personality factors associated with confessions and denials. It was hypothesized that antisocial personality traits and active involvement in criminal behaviour would distinguish true confessors and true deniers from false confessors and false deniers. Method. The participants were 1,080 students in further education in Iceland. Each was asked about false admissions made to teachers and parents in the past, as well as about confessions or denials (true and false) made to the police during questioning, and the reasons for having responded in the way they did. The participants also completed questionnaires relating to offending, personality and self‐esteem. Results. One‐quarter (25%) of the participants stated that they had in the past been interrogated by the police in relation to a suspected offence, of whom 59% said they had confessed. A small minority of those interrogated (3.7%; 1% of the total sample) claimed to have made false confessions to the police, whereas 10% claimed to have made false confessions to teachers or parents. Males were significantly more likely to report false confessions than females. False confessions and false denials were significantly associated with antisocial personality traits, with Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Psychoticism being the single best predictor. Those participants who made true confessions and true denials were most normal in their personality. Conclusions. Personality is a significant predictor of who makes false confessions and false denials.     

Offenders' lies and truths: an evaluation of the Supreme Court of Sweden's criteria for credibility assessment

Abstract

The criteria used by Swedish courts for assessing credibility of plaintiffs' accounts were for the first time scientifically evaluated. Furthermore, unlike much previous deception detection research, we used offenders as participants instead of college students. False and truthful confessions by 30 offenders were analysed, and few significant effects were obtained. Truthful confessions were rated as having a higher degree of clarity than false confessions. Women's truthful confessions were rated as more credible than their false confessions. The offenders who were most experienced in being interviewed by the police gave a stronger impression of talking about something self-experienced in their false than in their truthful confessions; hence, it seems that offenders with more police interview experience have developed a kind of expertise in telling a convincing lie about crime. Overall, the criteria for credibility assessment used by Swedish courts had very limited usefulness in discriminating truthful and false confessions. A critique of the current status of evaluating statements in Swedish courts is provided.     

Police interviewing techniques at two south london police stations

Abstract

This paper analyses the techniques used by police officers at two South London Police Stations: Orpington and Peckham. Audio tapes of 161 police interviews were analysed with regard to their duration, type of techniques employed, suspects' reactions, and the number of confessions obtained. The findings reveal that the great majority of the interviews are short, non-confrontational, and that exchanges are conducted with polite and compliant suspects. The Orpington suspects were significantly more ‘co-operative’ than their Peckham counterparts which may reflect quite different social and demographic conditions. In only a fifth of the cases did the police employ any challenging tactics to question the suspect's version of events. Overall, there were fewer coercive or manipulative tactics employed compared with earlier studies although the number of confessions or admissions obtained has remained relatively constant. Recommendations are made for police interview training to reflect these findings.     

False confessions and the relationship with offending behaviour and personality among Danish adolescents

Purpose . The main aim of the study was to examine false confessions to police, parents and teachers and their relationship to personality and self‐reported offending. Method . The participants were 715 students in further education in Denmark. Each was asked about false admissions made to teachers and parents in the past, as well as about confessions or denials (true and false) made to the police during questioning. The participants completed questionnaires relating to offending and personality. Results . Seventy‐three (10%) of the participants said they had been interrogated by the police, of whom thirty‐seven (51%) said they had committed the offence. Five (7%) said they had given a false confession to police, whereas one hundred and seven (15%) of the total sample said they had given a false confession to parents or teachers. False confessions to teachers and parents were best predicted by the rate of self‐reported offending and high compliance. The single most commonly reported reason for making a false confession was to protect a friend. Conclusions . The findings in the present study corroborate many of those found in similar Icelandic studies, although there were some differences, including fewer people being interrogated in Denmark and a higher base‐rate of innocence of those interrogated. The study indicates that false confessions to police do happen on occasions which needs to be recognized by the authorities.     

Protecting human rights: a complex story of the democratisation of the Croatian police

This paper explores the evolution of the protection of human rights in light of democratisation of the Croatian police. The story of democratisation of the Croatian police and their protection of human rights is particularly complex because of the war and its consequences. Using the grounded theory approach, the paper builds an argument that, because of the Croatian police are a part of the society at large, the way in which the police have dealt with human rights has been heavily dependent upon the larger social, political, and economic conditions, created both by domestic and international actors. The paper traces the police adherence to the protection of human rights across three distinct time periods.     

重复供述排除问题研究

一次非法取供,是否要对重复供述一排到底?重复供述问题在我国尤为突出,然而,法律和司法解释中并未明确重复供述的可采性。重复供述排除与否取决于先前的非法取供手段对重复供述的实际影响。基于我国实际,应当实行重复供述的分阶段排除方式,即原则上只排除非法取供发生后至确认前在同一诉讼阶段获取的重复供述。为了克服排除重复供述的障碍,应当允许重复取供,理顺公、检、法的关系,减少三机关的同质性。当然,最根本的举措是要建立激励为主的取供机制,调整形式主义的口供运用模式,怯除对非自愿供述的依赖。     

社区警务的社会自治渊源

社区警务已在我国推行了几年的时间,虽然这是我国公安机关引入的一项具体警务制度,但这一警务战略却是为了社会自治在社区的实现而创设,社区警务根源于社会自治。从更深层次角度而言,社区自治乃至社会自治是人权实现的重要途径,而社区警务是警察权在社区领域得以运用的体现,警察权来源于人权并以保障人权为目的,所以从社区警务的社会自治渊源进行推演所得出的结论是警察权的人权性。     

How do sex offenders think the police should interview to elicit confessions from sex offenders?

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore sex offenders' perceptions of how the police should interview suspected sex offenders to facilitate confessions, and to investigate whether there is a relationship between sex offenders' perceptions of how the police interviewed them and their decisions to confess or deny. Forty-three convicted sex offenders were interviewed using two 35-item questionnaires that contained five questions on each of seven interviewing strategies. An additional 20 violent offenders were included for comparison purposes. The strategies were evidence presenting strategies, ethical interviewing, displays of humanity, displays of dominance, use of minimization and maximization techniques, and demonstrating an understanding of sex offenders' cognitive distortions. One questionnaire concerned how the police should interview sex offenders and the other concerned how they perceived the police who interviewed them. Generally speaking, evidence presenting strategies, ethical interviewing, and displays of humanity were perceived to increase the likelihood of a confession. Interviewer dominance was perceived to be associated with a reduction in the likelihood of a confession.     

关于建立侦查讯问中律师在场制度的尝试与思考

业已进行的讯问犯罪嫌疑人律师在场制度的试验表明:犯罪嫌疑人对此一般表示欢迎,他们在侦查中形成的口供比较稳定,此后没有翻供现象;而另一组没有律师参加讯问的犯罪嫌疑人,侦查终结后有的人进行翻供,并把原因归咎于侦查人员的不当讯问。同时,大多数侦查人员对试验表示理解和支持,并认为对侦查活动没有负面影响,反而有积极意义。试验还表明,建立讯问犯罪嫌疑人律师在场制度,并不需要“一刀切”,且我国目前及今后相当长一段时期也难以做到“一刀切”,因此,需要探索、建立替代性制度,如讯问时录音、录像制度。     

人权保障视野中讯问方法的合法运用

讯问犯罪嫌疑人作为收集证据的重要途径在其方法上受到人权保障原则的制约,讯问方法的运用因此不得不面临人权保障与发现案件事实真相的目标冲突。讯问合法性的实质标准在于保证犯罪嫌疑人供述的自愿性,但纯粹的、彻底的自愿供述不可能是讯问合法性的绝对标准。为兼顾人权保障与侦查效率,我们既要确立任何人不被强迫自证其罪的原则,也要鼓励犯罪嫌疑人如实供述,并允许运用可能对供述自愿性构成轻微损害的讯问方法。     

民警警察意识与人权意识研究

警察有效地执法与人权保障之间的关系,常呈现出复杂的心态,一方面我们强调警察工作能在人权保护上起到第一道防线的作用,另一方面有的人又认为,尊重人权在一定程度上有时与执法相对立,甚至简单地认为执法就是对罪犯开展的战争。因而民警这一职业群体对警察权、人权以及两者关系的意识状态就显得至关重要。通过对民警职业群体的警察意识与人权意识的研究,期望能较为客观地呈现警察权意识教育以及重人权保护教育的现状,并对其的改进和完善进行深入的探讨。     

论供述排除的目的与条件——中美供述排除规则的比较研究

供述排除的目的在一定程度上决定排除规则中排除供述的具体条件的设置,供述排除的目的是供述排除规则中的核心内容,排除的条件也很重要,它们决定了排除规则的适用效果。美国供述排除的目的经历了从排除不可靠的供述以预防误判到排除违法取得的供述以保障权利的转变,而中国的司法实践中仍以预防错案为主。在排除供述的条件方面两国差异很大,这是由目的的不同所导致。中国目前的供述排除规则操作性不强,可能影响规则的施行效果。     

Interrogative Specialists and False Confessions: Debunking the Con Artist Myth

Within the criminal justice system, confessions are an extremely powerful form of evidence. Unfortunately, innocent people sometimes falsely confess to crimes they did not actually commit. Such travesties of justice have sparked a significant degree of academic research into the false confession phenomenon. Within the existing literature, there exists a conceptual framework that the interrogative methods and actions of law enforcement officers are a key cause of false confessions with some researchers going so far as to suggest that law enforcement interrogators act as confidence men who trick criminal subjects into confessing. However, few researchers have actually questioned law enforcement officers about false confessions and even fewer have consulted with officers who specialize in interrogation. This study is a subset of a larger qualitative case study designed to explore the experiences of 13 federal law enforcement polygraph examiners who specialize in interrogation regarding their approach to criminal interrogation and their experiences with both true and false confessions. This study focused on the personal processes federal law enforcement polygraph examiners use in reviewing Miranda rights and documenting confessions. NVivo software was used to organize the data. Common themes in interview responses were then identified and revealed that participants employ an open, detailed, and straightforward approach in reviewing Miranda rights and documenting the confessions of criminal subjects. These findings contradict the premise that law enforcement interrogators inherently operate as confidence men by tricking and manipulating criminal subjects.