False Confessions From 53 Persons Friends of Richard LapointeWord文档下载推荐.docx

False Confessions From 53 Persons Friends of Richard LapointeWord文档下载推荐.docx

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Itwasn'

talwaysthatway.Inearlieryearstheywereseenasobjectsofrejection.Mostwereremovedfromtheircommunitiesandsenttoliveinlarge,out-of-the-way,state-fundedinstitutions.Nowthattheyarebackinthemidstofourneighborhoods,wearelearningtounderstandandsupportthemasneverbefore.

Most—butnotall—seektobefriendlywithlocalpoliceofficers.Theydoitbecausetheyneedtodependonauthorityfiguresaroundthemtoliveinthecommunitysuccessfully.Policeofficersneedtoknowthatsometendtobeoverlyvulnerableandpliablewhenplacedunderpressureininterrogationrooms.Insuchasituationtheymaysaywhatevertheseauthorityfigureswanttohear.Theywillevenconfesstocrimestheydidnotcommit.

Today,53personswithintellectualanddevelopmentaldisabilitieshaveconfessedtoseriousfelonies—murder,rape,arson,androbbery—thattheydidnotcommit.Thesecaseshavebeenextractedfromthreesources:

Theycomefrommyown30-yearcollectionoffilesandfromsiftingthroughalistofallfalseconfessorsproducedearlierbytwoofthetopexpertsonallfalseconfessions（Drizin&

Leo,2004）.MorerecentlytheyhavebeensiftedfromaconstantstreamoffalseconfessionreportsflowingoutoftheCenteronWrongfulConvictionsatNorthwesternUniversity'

sSchoolofLaw.Allofthe53individualshavebeenlegallyexonerated.

Thenumberofpersonsonthislistwillincreaseintheyearstocome.Forexample,Icanname15otherfalseconfessorswithintellectualdisabilitiesIbelievetobeinnocent,buttheywillnotbeplacedonthislistuntiltheyhavebeenexoneratedbyaformallegalaction.

Sixfactorsgleanedfromthislistmaybeworthpondering:

1.AlmosthalfhavebeenexoneratedbyDNAtests.

2.Insomecases,therealperpetratorsfinallyconfessedtothecrimesinquestion.

3.Mostoftheexonerationstookplacesince1990.

4.Inallcases,adefenselawyerwasnotpresentduringtheinterrogations.

5.Thesecasescryoutforthenonstopvideotapingofsuspectsininterrogationrooms.

6.Officersneedtolearnhoweasyitistogetfalseconfessionsfromsomesuspectswithintellectualandrelateddisabilities.

Theconfessorsarelistedalphabeticallyalongwiththestateandyearinwhichtheyconfessed.Thespecificdisabilitymentionedineachdocumenthasbeenplacedbetweenquotationmarks.

ClearedWhenRealPerpetratorConfesses:

GabrielBaddeley（2001,Washington）

Baddeley,Age19,“withfetalalcoholeffect”wascoercedintoconfessingtosettingfiretothehighschoolwherehewasastudent.Twoyearsafterhisconviction,ayoungwomanintherapyvoluntarilycameforwardwithevidenceshowingthatshewasthetruearsonist（Courtney,2004）.

MurderbyThermostat:

EuniceBaker（1999,NewYork）

A23-year-oldwoman“withIQtestsinthe70s,”washiredtobabysita3-year-oldchildonahotsummernight.Thechilddiedinherbedroomfromhyperthermia.AstatetroopercoercedBakerintoconfessingthatshewillfullyturnedupthethermostattokillthechild.Attrial,shecouldnotdescribeorshowhowtoadjustathermostat.Inaddition,atechniciandescribedthattherewasashortinthehome'

sheatingsystem.Bakerwasconvictedofsecond-degreemurder,apparentlyforfailingtoreactproperlytotheoverheatedenvironment.Aftershespentnearly5yearsbehindbars,theconvictionwasthrownout（Chittum,2000;

Nogas,2000a,200b）

MurderofanInfantWhoNeverExisted:

MedellBanks,VictoriaBanks,DianneTucker（1999,Alabama）

Whileinjailawaitingtrialforanunrelatedcrime,VictoriaBanksclaimedtobepregnant.Shedidittogarnersympathyandgetoutofjail.Theployworked.Later,whenasheriffaskedheraboutthebaby,shetoldhimthatthebabyhaddied.She,herhusband,Medell,andhersister,DianneTucker,“allwithmentalretardation,”underwentintensivequestioningover5daysuntiltheyconfessedtomurderingtheinfant.Later,itwasdiscoveredthatVictoriahadundergoneatuballigation4yearsearlierandwasunabletohavechildren（Luo,2002）.

AMurderThatNeverOccurred:

LeonardBarco（1985,NewJersey）

Barco'

sgirlfriendwasfounddeadinhercar.Bruisingonthevictim'

sneckandchestledinvestigatorstobelieveshehadbeenstrangled.Duringinterrogation,Barco,“withIQ57,”confessedtobeatinghertodeathwithastick.Hespent8monthsinjailawaitinghistrial.Hispublicdefenderfinallycalledforareexaminationofthewoman'

sbodyandfoundshehadactuallydiedfromalethallevelofalcohol.Thebruisingwasconsistentwithinjuriestypicalofalcoholics.Themurderchargesweredropped（AssociatedPress,1986）.

SavedbyDNA:

CorinthianBell（2000,Illinois）

Afterhismotherwasmurdered,Bell,“amanwithmildretardation,”enduredover50hoursofquestioningbeforehefinallyconfessed.DNAevidenceexoneratedthemanafterhespent17monthsinjail（Scharnberg&

Mills,2002）.

MelvinBennett（1990,NorthCarolina）

A7-year-oldgirlwasrapedandmurdered.Bennett,“diagnosedasmentallyretarded,”confessedtobothcrimes.DNAevidencefinallyexcludedhim.Bennettspent2yearsinjailbeforeajuryacquittedhim（Aheran,1998）.

InCustody14YearsWithNoTrial:

FloydLeeBrown（1993,NorthCarolina）

Brown,aman“withanIQof50”wasarrestedandquestionedforthebeatingdeathofan80-year-oldwoman.Twodetectiveswrotea“fullconfession”inperfectEnglishgrammarthatBrowncouldnotread.InnowaydiditmatchBrown'

shalting,sparselywordedrepetitivespeech.Hewasplacedincustodyinastatementalhospitalbecausehewasnotcompetenttostandtrial.Inthemeantime,bothdetectiveswereconvictedfortakingbribesfromotherjailinmates.NophysicalevidenceconnectedBrowntothemurder.Thejudgefoundtheinvestigation“soshoddy,”heorderedthatmurderchargesagainstBrownbedropped（Thompson,2007）.

KeithBrown（1991,NorthCarolina）

Awomanwasraped.Brown,aman“whoismentallyretarded,”confessedandwasgiven35yearsinexchangeforpleadingguilty.Afterspending6yearsincustody,hewasexoneratedthroughDNA,whichidentifiedthetrueperpetrator（AssociatedPress,1997）.

BeatenIntoConfessing:

TimothyBrown（1991,Florida）

Asheriff'

sdeputywasmurderedinhispatrolcar.Brown,age15,“withanIQof57,”wasarrested,shackledtothefloor,beaten,andthreatenedwiththeelectricchairuntilheconfessed.Nophysicalevidencetiedhimtothecrime.Aconfidentialinformantledinvestigatorstofocusonasheriff'

sdeputy,wholateradmittedthathehadkilledhisfellowofficer（deVise&

DeMarzo,2002;

McMahon&

Friedberg,2002）.

Spends14YearsonDeathRowDuetoShoddyPoliceandProsecutorialEfforts:

AlbertRonnieBurrell（1986,Louisiana）

Burrell,“anilliteratemanwithmildretardation”wasactuallyoneoftwopersonsintotallydifferentsettingswhowereconvictedofmurderingthesameelderlycouple.Bothendedupondeathrow.Afterofficialsrecentlyreexaminedthecase,theyagreedthatitshouldneverhavebeenbroughttoagrandjury.Scatteredbitsofevidenceonlycomplicatedthecase.Forexample,Burrell'

sex-wifetoldanofficerthatherex-husbanddidthecrime.Shesaidittogainfullcustodyoftheirson.Inaddition,anobscureaffidavitfromanearlierprosecutorstatedthathemovedthecasesalongtoavoidembarrassingthesheriffatthattime（Barrouquere,2003;

Baughman&

Guarisco,2001）.

AllenJacobChestnut（1998,Maryland）

Amanwasstabbedtodeath.Policearrested16-yearoldChestnutafterobservingafreshcutonhishandandbloodonhisclothes.After15gruelinghoursofquestioning,theteenagerconfessedtothemurder.After6monthsinjail,ChestnutwasexcludedasthekillerbyDNA（Richissin,1998）.

ClearedWhenRealKillerConfessed:

AntwonColeman（1990,Missouri）

Ahomelessmanwasbeatentodeath.Coleman,17,laterconfessedtothemurder.Accordingtohislawyer,thisteenager“withlearningdisabilities”wouldhave“confessedtoanything.”Fiveteenagersinallwerechargedandheldincustodyfor6weeksbeforeoneofthem,thetrueperpetrator,confessedandpledguilty（Sorkin,1990）.

RussianRouletteGoesWrong:

RickyCullipher（1996,Virginia）

Cullipherwashangingoutwithfriendswhenoneofthemwascrippledbyagunshotwoundtothehead.Afterhoursofintensequestioning,the16-year-old“learningdisabled”teenagerconfessedandwasconvictedattrial.Later,thevictimwascaughtonvideotapesayingheactuallyshothimselfduringagameofRussianroulette.Ajudgethrewouttheconvictionandprosecutorsrefusedtoretrythecase（Roberson&

Lenz,2001）.

BystanderSpeaksUp:

GeraldDelay（1992,Kansas）

Thevictimwasshotwithanantiqueball-and-cappistol.Thekillerspulledoutthevictim'

steeth,slicedoffhistattoos,lashedhimtoasteelbeam,andthrewhimintotheriver.Afterhisbodywasrecovered,Delay,“amanwithmentalretardation,”wasquestionedandheconfessedtothecrime.Abystanderwhowitnessedthecrimefinallyovercamehisfearandtoldpolicewhatreallyhappened.ChargesagainstDelayweredismissed（Fry,1993）.

ManDescribesOwnArrestandInterrogation:

Mic