Confession evidence is highly potent, and its incriminating effects are difficult to erase. This research paper describes the impact of confessions on jury verdicts, examines three concerns about the way in which juries evaluate confession evidence, and considers the steps that can be taken to ensure that jurors assess such evidence appropriately. In cases where
Interrogation rooms remain some of the most secretive locations in the United States legal system. Police undertake interrogation to discover the truth about a crime. Police, along with society at large, want guilty people to confess and innocent people to resist. The stakes are particularly high because a confession is even more powerful than eyewitness
In law, a confession is a statement in an admission of guilt accompanied by a narrative account of the crime. Typically induced during police interrogations, confession evidence is common within the criminal justice system, is persuasive, and is highly incriminating in court—even if it was wrongfully obtained or coerced and later recanted. However, confessions are
Interrogation rooms remain some of the most secretive locations in the United States legal system. Police undertake interrogation to discover the truth about a crime. Police, along with society at large, want guilty people to confess and innocent people to resist. The stakes are particularly high because a confession is even more powerful than eyewitness
Confession evidence is highly potent, and its incriminating effects are difficult to erase. This research paper describes the impact of confessions on jury verdicts, examines three concerns about the way in which juries evaluate confession evidence, and considers the steps that can be taken to ensure that jurors assess such evidence appropriately. In cases where