Originally Posted by snaggs

You are a 21 year old American male of average intelligence.

What could the police do to you to "coerce" a murder confession out of you that goes something like this.

I reached for her and she slapped me and pushed me away so I grabbed a crescent wrench and started beating her"

Remember you don't deny saying this and signing your name to it, you aren't claiming the police made it up, you're saying that they "made" you say it.

What would it take?

Being tortured I suppose. Does this have some context?

 

Originally Posted by SCOTUS

Lies and and coercion by police do not render a confession involuntary. There has to be a causal relationship between the coercive tactic and the confession.
The test is:

1: Is the confession the product of an essentially free and unconstrained choice by its maker?
2(a): If it is, if he has willed to confess, it may be used against him.
2(b) If it is not, if his will has been overborne and his capacity for self-determination critically impaired, the use of his confession offends due process.

The State bears the burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that a confession is voluntary.

It's very difficult to prove that the confession was involuntary.

 

Originally Posted by Lord Supremo

Lots of things that fall short of "torture" have been known to elicit false confessions...sleep deprivation, intense close questioning for hours, threats, lies...

fine, but again YOU, the avg American male what's it gonna take to get you to confess to a murder you didn't commit.

Edit: Ladies you can play along too of course didn't mean to go sexist.

 

Originally Posted by snaggs

fine, but again YOU, the avg American male what's it gonna take to get you to confess to a murder you didn't commit.

Me? Or the average American male?

If I were sleep deprived, questioned for hours, and starved/thristy I may either a) confess, or b) attack the detective, both of which leads to my incarceration. There is a reason even the best of the best can't become intelligence officers/astronauts/field commanders etc, because it takes a special mental make-up to withstand the onslaught of psychological impulses + stimulus(or lack of stimulus) highly stressful situations place on you. So the as the avg guy, it wouldn't take much.

 

Originally Posted by AMARTIN1181

can't really know until you're in that spot

Please we are all tough motherfuckerrs who can take a ball and chain to the nuts without cracking.

 

Originally Posted by AMARTIN1181

can't really know until you're in that spot

Exactly, this question is stupid.

 

Originally Posted by Lord Supremo

Exactly, this question is stupid.

this is the correct answer.

How does sleep depravation work? If I was in an interview and I told the interagators I was done talking and was tired, I think I would try sleeping in the chair I am on or lay down on the floor. Could the police actually shake me awake? Would that not be considered to be an assualt on their part?

if they threatened the lives of my family, or threatened to torture them. i would like to say torture to myself wouldn't make me confess, but I've never experienced that pain. easy to sit here and say I still wouldn't confess with torture, however i probably would. gladly i'll never have to find out.

well seeing as how I wouldn't even talk to the police or let them take me in for questioning I am not worried. you should have make the question about being arrested in some 3rd world country.


it always amazes me why these idiots ever go down to the police station when they are asked. guess thats why the dumb ones end up in jail

pm bfactor to find out how you would react to torture

 

Originally Posted by snaggs

OK this didn't go the way I had planned at all. The point was that a guy in this very scenario was released from prison after 29 years to receive a new trial. He claimed that he was coerced (not tortured, but I wanted to leave that on the table) into admitting to murder. Frankly as my life is over if I confess I can't imagine what you could do to me SHORT of torture to get me to make up a detailed story about how I murdered someone.

Maybe I'm too trusting, but I ALWAYS find it hard to believe when citizens claim their confessions were coerced. Demand to see an attorney and say nothing. If this is violated, then you don't lose at trial in the first place, not 30 years later you get a new trial. To me it's BS and this fucker belongs behind bars unless there's a little something called evidence.

http://news.yahoo.com/man-adjust-lif...173709452.html

From what I've read, the more detailed the confession, the less likely it's true. Unless a person is a true psychopath, no one committing an act of passion like murder can retain intimate details of the act. It's physically unpossible. Oftentimes, the suspect has seen crime scene photos or other relevant pieces of evidence, and wrap them into the story. Once you break, and you try to tell someone what they want to hear, you tend to go all out.

Dude went to jail when he was 21. has served 29 years. I think he's been punished enough. He's not even the same person anymore. Wtf does it matter if they let him out or not ?

If I didn't do it I would break pretty easily because I would have faith in the system to find me innocent. I wouldn't admit to it for no reason but if they kept me up or used any kind of torture I would just give up and bank on the confession getting overturned.

Now if I did do it, there is no way I would confess. I never understand the First 48, like 75% of the time they cant make a case but they get the guy to come in, he doesnt ask for his lawyer, and they tell him he will feel better telling the truth. Yea you might feel better then, but for the rest of your life you probably wont enjoy being in jail.