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ANNUAL The Psychology REVIEWS Further Click here for quick links to Annual Reviews content online, of Confessions including: • Other articles in this volume • Top cited articles Saul M. Kassin • Top downloaded articles • Our comprehensive search Department of Psychology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY 10019; email: [email protected]

Annu. Rev. Law Soc. Sci. 2008. 4:193–217 Key Words First published online as a Review in Advance on police interrogations, Miranda, lie detection, wrongful convictions September 29, 2008

The Annual Review of Law and Social Science is Abstract online at lawsocsci.annualreviews.org Despite the potency of confession evidence in criminal law, recent DNA by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. This article’s doi: exonerations indicate that false confessions are a contributing factor in 10.1146/annurev.lawsocsci.4.110707.172410 numerous wrongful convictions. After distinguishing between volun- Copyright c 2008 by Annual Reviews. tary, compliant, and internalized false confessions, this article reviews All rights reserved

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org research implicating a sequence of three processes responsible for false 1550-3585/08/1201-0193$20.00 confessions and the adverse consequences of these confessions. First, police often target innocent people for interrogation because of erro- neous judgments of truth and deception made during preinterrogation interviews. Second, innocent people are sometimes induced to con- fess as a function of certain police interrogation tactics, dispositional suspect vulnerabilities, and naive mental state that accompanies inno- cence. Third, people cannot readily distinguish between true and false confessions and often fail to discount those confessions they perceive to be coerced. At present, researchers are seeking ways to improve the accuracy of confession evidence and its evaluation in the courtroom.

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In criminal law, confession evidence is com- years, it is not possible to project from these mon, potent, and so highly regarded as a mat- cases the frequency with which innocent peo- ter of common sense that, as one legal scholar ple in general confess to crimes they did not stated, “the introduction of a confession makes commit. First, within the U.S. criminal justice the other aspects of a trial in court superflu- system, the postconviction cases discovered by ous” (McCormick 1972, p. 316). Yetconfessions the Innocence Project and others do not in- are fallible. Dating back to the Salem witch tri- clude the numerous false confessions that are als of 1692, during which roughly 50 women disproved subsequent to arrest but before trial, confessed to witchcraft, countless numbers of those that result in a false guilty plea, those people have been wrongfully prosecuted, con- to minor crimes that attract no postconvic- victed, imprisoned, and sometimes sentenced tion scrutiny, and those that involve juveniles to death after confessing to crimes they did not in which confidentiality provisions are in place. commit. Then in 1989, Gary Dotson became For these reasons, the cases that are discovered the first wrongfully convicted person to be ex- represent the tip of an iceberg the size of which onerated by DNA testing. Since that time, the is unknown (Drizin & Leo 2004, Gross et al. Innocence Project has been involved in more 2005). Second, whereas most case studies are than 200 postconviction DNA exonerations. In based in the United States, proven false con- nearly 25% of these convictions of the factually fessions have also been documented in coun- innocent, false confessions were a contributing tries all over the world—including Canada, factor (Scheck et al. 2000, Garrett 2008; see also Great Britain, Norway, Holland, Sweden, http://www.innocenceproject.org). Iceland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, A false confession is an admission of guilt China, and Japan. Third, although most known followed by a narrative statement of what, how, false confessions occur in a criminal jus- and why the confessor committed the crime. tice venue, they also occur with unknown Over the years, confessions have been proven frequency in military intelligence settings, false in a number of ways, as when it is discov- where intensely coercive tactics are sometimes ered that the confessed crime was not commit- used, and in corporate loss-prevention set- ted; when new evidence shows it was physically tings, where employees are often prompted impossible for the confessor to have committed by supervisors to confess to theft, whereupon the crime; when the real perpetrator, having no the employees agree to return the money connection to the defendant, is captured and (Nader 2006). implicated; and when DNA and other scientific Seeking to grasp the size of the iceberg sub- evidence affirmatively establish the confessor’s merged beneath the surface, researchers have by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. innocence. Through these methods, and con- used self-report methods as well. Gudjonsson & trary to the widespread belief that people do Sigurdsson (1994) conducted self-report stud- not confess to crimes they did not commit, the ies of prison inmates in Iceland and found that

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org pages of American history betray large numbers 12% claimed to have made a false confession to of men and women who were wrongfully pros- police at some time in their lives. Similar studies ecuted, convicted, imprisoned, and sometimes have been conducted in student samples within sentenced to death on the basis of false con- Iceland and Denmark. Among those interro- fessions (for reviews, see Drizin & Leo 2004; gated by police, the self-reported false confes- Gudjonsson 1992, 2003; Kassin 1997a, 2005, sion rates ranged from 3.7% to 7% among col- 2008; Kassin & Gudjonsson 2004; Kassin & lege students (Gudjonsson et al. 2004, 2006; Wrightsman 1985; Lassiter 2004; Leo 2008; Steingrimsdottir et al. 2007) and 1.2% for Leo & Ofshe 1998; Wrightsman & Kassin older university students (Gudjonsson et al. 1993). 2004). In a North American survey of 631 po- Although many researchers have aggregated lice investigators, respondents estimated from large numbers of false confession cases in recent their own experience that 4.78% of innocent

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suspects confess during interrogation (Kassin confessor’s ignorance and inability to furnish Voluntary false et al. 2007). corroborating details about the crime. There confessions: are several reasons why innocent people might confessions, often in volunteer confessions, such as a pathological high-profile cases, THE STUDY OF CONFESSIONS need for attention or self-punishment; feelings made by innocents By necessity, the scholarly study of confes- of guilt or delusions; the perception of tangible without prompting by police sion evidence has drawn on a wide range gain; or the desire to protect a parent, child, or of methodologies—most commonly individ- someone else. Compliant false confessions: ual and aggregated case studies, self-report In contrast, people may be induced to con- confessions in which interviews and surveys, naturalistic observa- fess through the processes of police interroga- innocent suspects tional studies, field studies, and laboratory tion. In compliant false confessions, the suspect capitulate in order to experiments. capitulates in order to escape a stressful custo- escape a stressful Over the years, researchers have reported dial situation, avoid physical or legal punish- situation, avoid punishment, or gain a on numerous accounts of proven false con- ment, or gain a promised or implied reward. reward fessions, producing a vast literature of case Based on a review of cases, Gudjonsson (2003) Internalized false studies. As reported in books, newspapers, TV identified some concrete incentives for this type confessions: documentaries, and analyses of actual case files, of confession, such as being allowed to sleep, confessions in which these stories reveal that false confessions oc- eat, make a phone call, go home, or, in the innocent but cur with some unknown frequency, that they case of drug addicts, feed a drug habit. Like vulnerable suspects, share certain common features, and that they the classic forms of influence observed in psy- presented with false evidence of guilt, come seem more likely to occur in some types of chological studies of conformity, compliance, to believe they in fact people and under some conditions than oth- and obedience to authority, this type of confes- committed the crime ers (e.g., see Gudjonsson 1992, 2003). From sion is an act of public capitulation by a sus- these descriptive analyses of specific instances pect who knows that he or she is innocent but and associations, one cannot draw conclusions perceives that the short-term benefits of con- about the causes of false confessions. Never- fession (e.g., being left alone, fed, or released) theless, case studies of this nature have proven outweigh the long-term costs (e.g., a loss of invaluable in the development of this area. reputation, conviction, and incarceration). This By comparing and contrasting several known phenomenon was dramatically illustrated in the cases throughout history, for example, Kassin 1692 Salem witch trials, in which women con- & Wrightsman (1985) introduced a taxonomy fessed to witchcraft (Karlsen 1989); in Brown v. that distinguished among three types of false Mississippi (1936), a classic case in which three confessions: voluntary, coerced-compliant, and black tenant farmers confessed to murder after by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. coerced-internalized. they were whipped with a steel-studded leather Voluntary false confessions are those in belt; and in the infamous Central Park jogger which people claim responsibility for crimes case, in which five New York City teenagers,

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org they did not commit without prompting or in 1989, confessed after lengthy interrogations, pressure from police. Often this occurs in high- each claiming he expected to go home after- profile cases. When Charles Lindbergh’s infant ward. All the boys were convicted and sent to son was kidnapped in 1932, an estimated 200 prison, only to be exonerated in 2002 when the people volunteered confessions. When “Black real rapist gave a confession that was confirmed Dahlia” actress Elizabeth Short was murdered by DNA evidence. in 1947, more than 50 people confessed. In Third, internalized false confessions are 2006, John Mark Karr confessed to the un- those in which innocent but vulnerable sus- solved murder of young JonBenet Ramsey. pects confess and come to believe they com- Researchers have not systematically studied mitted the crime in question, a belief that is these types of false confessions, in part because sometimes accompanied by false memories (for they are typically disproved at the outset by the a description of the process, see Kassin 2007).

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Gudjonsson & MacKeith (1982) argued that dence was discovered (46%). Surprisingly, 30% this kind of false confession results from of the cases involved confessions from multiple “memory distrust syndrome,” whereby people innocent suspects to the same crime, often in- develop a profound distrust of their own mem- dicating that one false confession was used to ory that renders them vulnerable to manipula- extract others. Not surprisingly, the sample was tion from external cues. Kassin (1997b) likened disproportionately more youthful than the pop- this process of influence to the creation of false ulation as a whole (63% of false confessors were memories sometimes seen in psychotherapy pa- younger than 25; 32% were under 18). Indicat- tients. In both situations, an authority figure ing the power of confession evidence, four out claims a privileged insight into the individual’s of the five false confessors in this sample who past, the individual is isolated from others and took their case to trial were convicted. in a heightened state of malleability, and the ex- In addition to a case study approach, mul- pert ultimately convinces the individual to ac- tiple empirical methods are used to investi- cept a painful self-insight by invoking concepts gate the processes of interviewing, interroga- like dissociation or repression (see also Ost tion, and the elicitation of confessions. Leo et al. 2001). The case of 14-year-old Michael (1996a) and Feld (2006) in the United States Crowe, whose sister was stabbed to death, il- and Moston et al. (1992) and others in Great lustrates this phenomenon. After lengthy inter- Britain used naturalistic observations to study rogations, during which Michael was misled by processes and outcomes in live and videotaped lies into thinking there was substantial physical police interrogations. Gudjonsson (1992, 2003) evidence of his guilt, he concluded that he was and colleagues have also used self-report meth- a killer: “I’m not sure how I did it. All I know ods to examine correlations between various is I did it.” Eventually, he was convinced that personal suspect characteristics—such as in- he had a split personality—that “bad Michael” terrogative compliance and suggestibility—and acted out of jealous rage, while “good Michael” the tendency to confess or resist confession. My blocked the incident from consciousness. The colleagues and I have developed experimental charges against Crowe were later dropped when paradigms to assess how accurately investiga- a drifter from the neighborhood was found with tors make preinterrogation judgments of truth his sister’s blood on his clothing (Drizin & and deception (Kassin & Fong 1999, Meissner Colgan 2004). & Kassin 2002), to test specific causal hypothe- Using an aggregated case study method, Leo ses about interrogation tactics that increase the & Ofshe (1998) compared and contrasted 60 risk of false confessions (Kassin & Kiechel 1996, proven or probable false confession cases, trig- Russano et al. 2005), and to assess the im- by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. gering a critique and rejoinder concerning the pact of confession evidence on juries (Kassin & actual innocence of many of the confessors in- Neumann 1997, Kassin & Sukel 1997). cluded in their analysis (Cassell 1999, Leo & Every tale of a confession-based wrongful

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org Ofshe 2001). Later focusing on a larger, more conviction raises three sets of questions and has rigorous sample of proven exonerations, Drizin inspired a great deal of recent research: (a) Why & Leo (2004) were able to describe the char- are innocent people often misidentified for in- acteristics of 125 cases of proven false confes- terrogation as a result of judgments of them sion in the United States from 1971 and 2002. made in a preinterrogation interview, (b) what They found that 93% of the false confessors personal characteristics of a suspect and what were men. Overall, the vast majority occurred in situational aspects of the interrogation put in- murder cases (81%), distantly followed by rape nocents at risk to confess, and (c) how accurate (8%) and arson (3%). The most frequent bases are judges, juries, and others at assessing confes- of exoneration were that the real perpetrator sion evidence in the courtroom? Each of these was identified (74%) or that new scientific evi- questions is addressed below.

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THE PREINTERROGATION the tapes, showed these edited tapes to four ex- INTERVIEW perienced in-house staff members of John E. Reid and Associates, and concluded from their During the course of an investigation, police judgments that the Reid technique produced identify one or more suspects for interroga- high levels of accuracy (no comparison group tion. Sometimes, this identification is reason- of untrained or lay evaluators was included). Yet ably based on witnesses, informants, a suspect’s in laboratories all over the world, research has own history, or other extrinsic evidence. Often, consistently shown that most of the demeanor however, it is based on a clinical hunch formed cues touted by the Reid technique do not em- during a preinterrogation interview. In Crimi- pirically discriminate between truth telling and nal Interrogations and Confessions, an influential deception (DePaulo et al. 2003). Not surpris- manual on interrogation first published in 1962 ingly, therefore, laypeople on average are only and now in its fourth edition, Inbau et al. (2001) 54% accurate; training produces little improve- propose a two-step process by which the highly ment compared with naive control groups; and confrontational, accusatory process of interro- police, judges, psychiatrists, customs inspec- gation is preceded by a neutral, information- tors, and other so-called experts perform only gathering interview, the main purpose of which slightly better than laypeople, if at all (for re- is to help determine if the suspect is guilty or cent reviews, see Bond & DePaulo 2006, Vrij innocent. 2008). To help investigators determine whether In studies specifically aimed at evaluating the their suspects are telling the truth or lying, Reid approach to lie detection, the results are Inbau et al. (2001) train investigators to use not impressive. Vrij et al. (2006b) had some the Behavior Analysis Interview, or BAI. Us- subjects but not others commit a mock crime ing this approach, investigators are advised to they were motivated to deny. All subjects were ask a series of special behavior-provoking ques- then interviewed using the BAI interview pro- tions, the responses to which are presumed tocol. The results showed that responses to the to be diagnostic of guilt and innocence (e.g., behavior-provoking questions did not signifi- “Do you know who did take the money?” or cantly distinguish between truth tellers and liars “What do you think should happen to the per- in the predicted manner (e.g., the liars were not son who took the money?”), and then to observe more anxious or less helpful). In principle, it is changes in the suspect’s verbal and nonverbal reasonable to expect that special questions can behavior (e.g., eye contact, pauses, posture, fid- be developed that would discriminate between gety movements) to divine whether he or she is truthful and deceptive suspects. For example, by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. telling the truth or lying. For a person who is recent research indicates that innocent people under suspicion, an investigator’s judgment at are more likely than perpetrators to waive their this stage becomes a pivotal choice point, de- rights to silence, to counsel, and to a lineup, and termining whether the suspect is interrogated

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org to agree to cooperative acts, such as undergo- or sent home. ing a polygraph, physical examination, or house Inbau et al. (2001) claim that training in the search, that may betray the lesser fear that ac- Reid technique produces an exceedingly high companies innocence than guilt (Kassin 2005). (85%) level of accuracy (this claim is also ex- However, there is no empirical support for the plicitly made in training sessions). Yet the data diagnostic value of the BAI questions that are for this proposition come from a single flawed currently used. study that is also grossly out of step with ba- There is also no evidence to support the di- sic science. In that study, Horvath et al. (1994) agnostic value of the verbal and nonverbal cues selected 60 interview tapes from the Reid col- that investigators are trained to observe. For ex- lection, the ground truths of which could not ample, Kassin & Fong (1999) randomly trained be established with certainty. Then they edited some college students but not others to use the

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“behavioral symptoms” cited by the Reid tech- ods, it appears that O’Sullivan & Ekman (2004) nique. All students then watched videotaped collected much of their data at lie detection interviews of mock suspects, some of whom workshops they had conducted, that the tests committed one of four mock crimes (shoplift- were often self-scored, and that follow-up stim- ing, breaking and entering, vandalism, and ulus tests were often mailed to subjects and computer break-in) and others of whom did taken without supervision. As for the results, not. Upon questioning, all suspects denied their CF Bond & Uysal (2007) argued that the small involvement. As in the typical nonforensic lab- number of high performers who emerged from oratory experiment, observers could not reli- the testing were statistical flukes and that the ably differentiate between the two groups of number did not exceed chance expectations in suspects. In fact, those who underwent train- light of the thousands of subjects tested and ing were significantly less accurate, more confi- the criterion set for wizardry. In a more re- dent, and more biased toward seeing deception. cent effort to identify experts, G Bond (2007) Using these same taped interviews, Meissner & tested 234 law enforcement professionals and Kassin (2002) next tested experienced samples college students, tested subjects in a controlled of police detectives and found that they exhib- setting, and adopted a more stringent criterion ited these same erroneous and biased tenden- (80% accuracy on four different tests, each ad- cies. Other research as well suggests that po- ministered twice). Using this procedure, two lice tend to make prejudgments of guilt, with “experts” emerged whose performance was un- confidence, that are frequently in error (e.g., likely to have been achieved by chance. Clearly, Elaad 2003, Garrido et al. 2004, Leach et al. more research is needed on this issue. 2004). As a consequence, interrogation is a Assuming that some people prove to be guilt-presumptive process, a theory-driven so- highly proficient at lie detection, it remains to cial interaction led by an authority figure who be seen whether their wisdom can be articulated holds a strong a priori belief about the target and taught as part of professional training. This and who single-mindedly measures success by question relates to the second set of issues that his or her ability to extract a confession (Kassin currently preoccupies researchers in this area: et al. 2003). Whether it is possible to improve police lie de- At present, forensically relevant research on tection performance—either through the use human lie detection is focused on two sets of of emerging brain imaging technologies (e.g., issues. The first concerns whether certain indi- Kozel et al. 2005) or by developing new empir- viduals are uniquely talented in their lie detec- ically derived approaches to human truth and tion skills as a function of either their intuitive lie judgments. In one line of the latter research, by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. abilities or exposure to special training. To be Hartwig et al. (2005) found that interviewers sure, the distribution of lie detection accuracy make more accurate judgments by withholding scores suggests that some individuals are gen- crime details while questioning suspects, a strat-

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org erally more accurate than others (Ekman et al. egy that traps guilty liars in discernible incon- 1999). After testing approximately 13,000 peo- sistencies when these facts are later disclosed. ple from all walks of life, using parallel tasks, Interviewers who are trained in this “strategic O’Sullivan & Ekman (2004) reported identify- disclosure” technique thus become more accu- ing 15 “wizards” of lie detection who achieved rate in their judgments (Hartwig et al. 2006). In at least an 80% level of accuracy in two or three a second line of research, Vrij et al. (2006a) the- parallel tests. Recently, however, CF Bond & orized that lying is more effortful than telling Uysal (2007) challenged both the poorly con- the truth, so interviewers should tax a suspect’s trolled procedures through which these test cognitive load and attend to cues that betray ef- scores were derived and the statistical signif- fort. Hence, when interviewers had truth tellers icance of the so-called wizards (for a rejoin- and liars recount their stories in reverse chrono- der, see O’Sullivan 2007). With regard to meth- logical order, the interviewers became more

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accurate in their ability to distinguish between ity to make an informed waiver requires three the truthful and deceptive accounts (Vrij et al. abilities: an understanding of the words and 2008). phrases contained within the warnings, an ac- curate perception of their intended functions (e.g., that interrogation is adversarial, that an SAFEGUARD: MIRANDA attorney is an advocate, that these rights trump WARNINGS police powers), and a capacity to reason about Before police can transition from a diagnos- the likely consequences of the decision to waive tic preinterrogation interview to an accusatorial or invoke these rights. For assessment and re- interrogation, they must safeguard the suspect’s search purposes, Grisso developed four instru- constitutional rights. In the landmark case of ments for measuring Miranda-related compre- Miranda v. Arizona (1966), the U.S. Supreme hension. Research with these instruments has Court ruled that police must inform suspects in shown that adolescent suspects under age 15 do custody of their constitutional rights to silence not comprehend their rights as fully or know (e.g., “You have the right to remain silent; any- how to apply them as well as older adoles- thing you say can and will be held against you cents and adults (Goldstein et al. 2003, Grisso in a court of law”) and to counsel (e.g., “You are 1998, Oberlander & Goldstein 2001, Viljoen entitled to consult with an attorney; if you can- & Roesch 2005, Viljoen et al. 2007). As perfor- not afford an attorney, one will be appointed for mance on these measures is correlated with IQ, you”). Only if suspects waive these rights “vol- the same is true of adults who are mentally re- untarily, knowingly, and intelligently” as de- tarded (Clare & Gudjonsson 1995, Everington termined in law by consideration of “a total- & Fulero 1999, O’Connell et al. 2005). ity of the circumstances” can the statements be These concerns about comprehension are admitted into evidence. reinforced by the empirical fact that although A number of rulings subsequently narrowed the Miranda Court ruled that suspects must be the scope of Miranda, carved out exceptions apprised of their rights, it did not furnish specif- to the rule, and limited the consequences for ically worded warnings. Consequently, a recent noncompliance—developments that have led study identified 560 different Miranda warning some commentators to question the extent to forms used by police throughout the United which police are free to disregard Miranda States (Rogers et al. 2007). The warnings var- (Clymer 2002, White 2003). In one important ied substantially in content, wording, and for- recent decision, however, the Supreme Court mat. For example, their reading-level require- upheld the basic warning-and-waiver require- ments ranged from a simple third-grade level by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. ment (Dickerson v. United States 2000). In an- to the verbal complexity of postgraduate text- other opinion, the Court refused to accept con- books (see Kahn et al. 2006, Rogers et al. 2008). fessions that were given after a warning that was With at least some warnings, serious questions

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org tactically delayed in order to produce an ear- may be raised as to whether knowing and intel- lier inadmissible statement (Missouri v. Seibert ligent waivers of rights are possible by suspects 2004). who are “informed” of those rights. Miranda issues are often a source of dispute A second reason that the Miranda ritual in the courts, particularly whether the warning- may not adequately protect the accused is that and-waiver requirement is sufficiently protec- people routinely waive their rights. In light of tive of the accused. First and foremost is the the forceful nature of interrogation, one would argument that some suspects—because of their think that most adults would exercise their con- youth, lack of intelligence, lack of education, or stitutional rights to silence and counsel and mental health status—lack the capacity to un- avoid the perils of interrogation. However, re- derstand and apply the rights they are given. search suggests that people exhibit the oppo- Grisso (1981) reasoned that a person’s capac- site tendency. On the basis of observations of

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live and videotaped police interrogations, Leo than guilty suspects waive their rights (84% to (1996a) found that roughly four out of five sus- 73%). pects waive their rights. Over the years, archival studies in Great Britain have revealed a similar or somewhat higher waiver rate (Baldwin 1993, MODERN POLICE Moston et al. 1993, Softley 1980). Providing INTERROGATIONS converging evidence, North American police In the past, American police routinely prac- investigators who were recently surveyed esti- ticed “third degree” methods of custodial mated that 81% of suspects waive their Miranda interrogation—inflicting physical pain or men- rights (Kassin et al. 2007). tal anguish to extract confessions and other There are two possible explanations for the types of information from crime suspects. surprisingly high waiver rate. First, police have Among the commonly used coercive methods learned how to elicit waivers. Leo (1996b) ob- were prolonged confinement and isolation; served that detectives often overcome Miranda explicit threats of harm or punishment; depri- by establishing a rapport with the suspect, pre- vations of sleep, food, and other needs; extreme senting themselves as sympathetic allies, and sensory discomfort (e.g., shining a bright, minimizing the importance of the process—all blinding strobe light on the suspect’s face); and serving to increase the perceived benefits of a assorted forms of physical violence and torture waiver relative to costs. Second, Kassin (2005) (e.g., suspects were tied to a chair and smacked has argued that innocent people naively trust repeatedly on the side of the head or beaten that the process of interrogation will uncover with a rubber hose, which seldom left visible their innocence. marks). Except for the harsh, torture-like Several studies have examined this latter ex- techniques that have sometimes been used on planation. Leo (1996b) observed that individu- suspected terrorists, third degree methods of als who have no criminal record are more likely interrogation declined precipitously from the than prior felons to waive their rights. In light of 1930s through the 1960s and were replaced known recidivism rates and the corresponding by a more professional approach to policing fact that people without a record are less likely and a more social psychological approach to commit crimes, Kassin & Norwick (2004) to interrogation—one that relies heavily on designed a laboratory experiment to test the control, trickery, and deception (Davis & hypothesis that innocent people in particular O’Donahue 2004, Kassin 1997a, Wrightsman are at risk to waive their rights. In their experi- & Kassin 1993, Zimbardo 1967; for a recent ment, some subjects but not others committed description and analysis, see Leo 2008). by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. a mock theft of $100. Upon questioning, those In theory, the process of interrogation is de- who were innocent were more likely to sign a signed to overcome the anticipated resistance of waiver to speak than those who were guilty, 81% individual suspects who have been judged liars

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org to 36%. Afterward, the vast majority of inno- and presumed guilty. To achieve these goals, cent subjects explained that they waived their police employ a number of tactics that involve rights precisely because they were innocent: “I using a combination of negative and positive in- did nothing wrong,” “I had nothing to hide.” centives. In the influential Reid technique de- This same pattern was found in a study recently scribed by Inbau et al. (2001), investigators are conducted in Canada (Moore & Gagnier 2008). advised to isolate the suspect in a small, private In addition, Kassin et al. (2007) asked Ameri- room, which increases his or her anxiety and can police investigators to estimate separately, incentive to escape. A nine-step process then from their own experience, how both guilty ensues in which an interrogator employs both and innocent suspects react to Miranda. Con- negative and positive incentives: on the one sistent with these laboratory results, respon- hand confronting the suspect with strong accu- dents estimated that more innocent suspects sations of guilt, without opportunity for denial,

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assertions that may be bolstered by evidence, logical testing and assessment may be useful real or manufactured; and on the other hand to determine whether an individual suspect is offering sympathy and moral justification, nor- uniquely prone to confess during an interroga- malizing and minimizing the crime and leading tion. In short, the research to be reviewed in the suspects to see confession as an expedient means following pages indicates that both situational of escape. Finally, when a suspect is persuaded and dispositional risk factors are sufficient, that to admit guilt, the trained interrogator seeks neither is necessary, and that the combina- to convert that admission into a full narrative tion is powerful, to increase the risk of a false confession—on tape or in writing—that details confession. what the suspect did, how, and why. Both observational studies and police self- report surveys suggest that these techniques Tactical-Situational Risk Factors are commonly employed. In an article titled The practice of interrogation involves three es- “Inside the Interrogation Room,” Leo (1996a) sential elements that, if overused, may induce reported on his observations of 182 live and innocent persons to confess. The first risk fac- videotaped interrogations at three police de- tor concerns custody and interrogation time. partments in California and found that detec- Observational studies in the United States have tives used, on average, 5.62 different techniques consistently shown that most interrogations last per interrogation and that Reid-like approaches from 30 minutes to 2 hours (Wald et al. 1967, were particularly common. Similar results were Leo 1996a, Feld 2006). In the self-report survey obtained in an observational study of juvenile described above, North American investigators interrogations in Minnesota (Feld 2006). More- estimated from experience that the mean length over, police investigators recently surveyed esti- of a typical interrogation is 1.60 hours and that mated that their most frequent tactics, in order, their longest interrogations last an average of were (a) to physically isolate the suspect from 4.21 hours (Kassin et al. 2007). Thus, inter- family and friends, typically in a small private rogations that exceed 6 hours are often con- room; (b) to identify contradictions in the sus- sidered “coercive” (Blair 2005, Feld 2006). In pect’s account; (c) to try to establish rapport in light of the fact that protracted interrogation order to gain the suspect’s trust; (d ) to confront can cause fatigue, uncertainty, despair, and a the suspect with evidence of his or her guilt; and possible deprivation of sleep and other need (e) to appeal to his or her self-interests (Kassin states, it comes as little surprise that police- et al. 2007). induced false confessions routinely exceed nor- As indicated by numerous confession-based mative time frames. In their study of 125 proven by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. wrongful convictions, there are times when false confessions, Drizin & Leo (2004) found, in normal adults confess to crimes they did not cases in which interrogation time was recorded, commit as a way of coping with the stressors and that 34% lasted 6 to 12 hours, that 39%

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org demands of police interrogation. Indeed, clas- lasted 12 to 24 hours, and that the mean was sic social-psychology research has shown that 16.3 hours. human beings are profoundly influenced by fig- A second interrogation tactic that can in- ures of authority and other aspects of their so- duce confessions from innocent people is the cial surroundings and can be induced to behave false evidence ploy. In confronting suspects, in ways that are detrimental to themselves and American police will sometimes present sup- others. Yet at other times, an innocent person is posedly incontrovertible evidence of guilt (e.g., so young, dispositionally naive and immature, a fingerprint, blood or hair sample, eyewitness compliant, suggestible, delusional, anxious, or identification, or failed polygraph), even if that otherwise impaired that he or she may con- presentation is false. In the United States, it fess voluntarily or in response to relatively little is permissible for police to outright lie to sus- interrogative pressure. In these cases, psycho- pects about the evidence (Frazier v. Cupp 1969).

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Over the years, legal scholars have speculated events (Loftus 1997), and even certain medi- and debated the merits of trickery and decep- cal outcomes, as seen in studies of the placebo tion in the interrogation room (e.g., see Gohara effect (Brown 1998). 2006, Grano 1994, Magid 2001, Slobogin 2007, Studies specifically aimed at inducing false Thomas 2007, Young 1998). Yet empirical re- confessions have similarly shown that the pre- search clearly warns of the risk. Two sources sentation of false evidence increases the rate at of evidence support the argument that present- which innocent research participants confess to ing false evidence can lead innocent people to prohibited acts they did not commit. In the first confess. First, numerous proven false confes- such study, Kassin & Kiechel (1996) accused sion cases featured the use of the false evi- college students typing on a keyboard of caus- dence ploy. In an illustrative and high-profile ing the computer to crash by pressing a key they case, 17-year-old Marty Tankleff was accused were preinstructed to avoid. Despite their inno- of murdering his parents, despite the complete cence and initial denials, subjects were asked to absence of evidence against him. Tankleff ve- sign a confession. In some sessions but not oth- hemently denied the charges for several hours. ers, a confederate said she witnessed the sub- Then his interrogator told him that his hair was ject hit the forbidden key. This false evidence found on his mother, that a “humidity test” indi- nearly doubled the number of students who cated he had showered (hence, the lack of blood signed a written confession, from 48% to 94%. on him), and that his hospitalized father had Some of these students also went on to internal- emerged from his coma to say that Marty was ize the belief in their own culpability. Follow- his assailant—all lies (the father never regained up experiments have replicated the effect even consciousness and died shortly thereafter). Fol- when the confession was said to bear a finan- lowing these lies, which Tankleff presumed to cial consequence or future commitment of time be true, he became disoriented and confessed. (Horselenberg et al. 2003, 2006; Redlich & Solely on the basis of that confession, Tankleff Goodman 2003), and particularly among chil- was convicted in 1989, only to have his convic- dren and juveniles who tend to be both more tion vacated in 2008, after spending more than compliant and more suggestible than adults half his life in prison (Lambert 2007). This ef- (Redlich & Goodman 2003, Candel et al. 2005). fect on suspects of false evidence is not terribly Recently, Nash & Wade (2008) used digital surprising. In self-report studies, many actual editing equipment to fabricate video evidence suspects state that the reason they had confessed of subjects in a computerized gambling experi- is that they perceived themselves to be trapped ment taking money that did not belong to them. by the weight of evidence (Moston et al. 1992, Presented with this false evidence, all subjects by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. Gudjonsson & Sigurdsson 1999). confessed—and most internalized the belief in The second source of evidence comes from their guilt. the research laboratory. More than 100 years A third risk factor concerns the use of

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org of basic psychology research have shown that minimization. With suspects weakened by the human malleability to influence through misin- highly confrontational stages of interrogation, formation is broad and pervasive. By misrepre- interrogators are trained to minimize the crime senting reality—via confederates, bogus norms, through “theme development,” a process of false physiological feedback, counterfeit test providing moral justification or face-saving ex- results, and the like—one can substantially alter cuses for the crime, making confession seem people’s visual perceptions (Asch 1956), beliefs like an expedient means of escape. Interroga- (Anderson et al. 1980), behaviors (Rosenthal & tors are thus trained to suggest to suspects Jacobson 1968), emotions (Schachter & Singer that their actions were spontaneous, acciden- 1962), feelings of physical attraction (Valins tal, provoked, peer pressured, drug induced, 1966), self-assessments (Crocker et al. 1991), or otherwise justifiable by external factors. Re- memories of both observed and experienced search shows that minimization tactics may

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lead people to infer by pragmatic implication missible). The net result is to increase the rate that leniency in sentencing will follow from of false confessions. confession—even without an explicit promise. Kassin & McNall (1991) had subjects read a transcript of an interrogation of a murder sus- Suspect-Dispositional Risk Factors pect. Three versions of the transcript were Some suspects are dispositionally more vul- produced in which the detective (a) made a con- nerable to influence than others and are thus ditional promise of leniency, (b) used the tech- at greater risk for false confessions. Focusing nique of minimization by blaming the victim, on personality traits, Gudjonsson (2003) has or (c) used neither technique. Subjects read one found that individuals who are prone to com- version and estimated the sentence that they pliance in social situations are especially vul- thought would be imposed on the suspect upon nerable because of their eagerness to please confession. The result: Minimization lowered others and a desire to avoid confrontation, par- sentencing expectations as if an explicit promise ticularly with those in authority. Individuals had been made. who are prone to suggestibility—whose mem- To measure the behavioral effects of mini- ories can be altered by misleading questions mization, Russano et al. (2005) devised a labo- and negative feedback—are also more likely to ratory paradigm in which subjects were paired confess under interrogation. Most importantly, with a confederate for a problem-solving study Gudjonsson notes that people who are highly and instructed to work alone on some trials and anxious, fearful, depressed, delusional, or oth- jointly on others. In a guilty condition, the con- erwise psychologically disordered are often at a federate sought help on a problem that was sup- heightened risk to confess under pressure. posed to be solved alone, inducing a violation Any discussion of dispositional risk factors of the experimental prohibition; in an innocent must begin with a consideration of the sus- condition, the confederate did not make this pect’s age and cognitive maturity. The infamous request to induce the crime. The experimenter Central Park jogger case illustrates the point. soon “discovered” a similarity in their solutions, In 1989, a female jogger was beaten senseless, separated the subject and confederate, and ac- raped, and left for dead in New YorkCity’sCen- cused the subject of cheating. The experimenter tral Park. She managed to survive but was—and tried to get the subject to sign an admission by still is—amnesic for the incident (Meili 2003). promising leniency (research credit in exchange Within 48 hours, after intense interrogations, for a return session without penalty), making five African American and Hispanic American minimizing remarks (“I’m sure you didn’t re- boys, 14 to 16 years old, confessed to the at- by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. alize what a big deal it was”), using both tac- tack. Solely on the basis of these confessions, tics, or using no tactics. Overall, the confes- all were ultimately tried, convicted, and sen- sion rate was higher among guilty subjects than tenced to prison. Four of the confessions were

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org innocent, when leniency was promised than videotaped and presented at trial. The tapes when it was not, and when minimization was were compelling, with each and every one of used than when it was not. Importantly, mini- the defendants describing in vivid—though, in mization by itself—just like an explicit offer of many ways, erroneous—detail how the jogger leniency—reduced the diagnosticity outcomes was attacked, when, where, and by whom, and by increasing not only the rate of true confes- the role that he played. One boy reenacted the sions (from 46% to 81%) but also the rate of way he allegedly pulled off the jogger’s run- false confessions (from 6% to 18%). In short, ning pants. A second said he felt pressured by minimization provides police with a loophole the others to participate in his “first rape.” He in the rules of evidence by serving as the im- expressed remorse and said that he will never plicit but functional equivalent to a promise of do it again. Collectively, the taped confessions leniency (which itself renders a confession inad- persuaded police, prosecutors, two trial juries,

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a city, and a nation (for details, see Sullivan proven false confessions that they analyzed, 1992). Drizin & Leo (2004) found that 35% were un- Thirteen years later, Matias Reyes, in prison der 18 years old, and more than half within this for three rapes and a murder committed af- latter group were 15 or younger (of all per- ter the jogger attack, stepped forward at his sons arrested for murder and rape, only 8% and own initiative and confessed. He said that he 16%, respectively, are juveniles; Snyder 2006). had raped the Central Park jogger and that he Second, whereas an estimated 14% to 25% of all had acted alone. Investigating this new claim, wrongful convictions historically contain false the district attorney’s office questioned Reyes confessions in evidence, 44% of exonerated ju- and discovered that he had accurate knowledge veniles are wrongly convicted because of false of the crime not previously known to investi- confessions—and this number increases to 75% gators. Moreover, DNA testing revealed that among the youngest juveniles, 12 to 15 years old Reyes was the source of the semen samples (Gross et al. 2005). recovered from the victim—which, early on, These statistics are supported by a strong had excluded the boys as donors. In December convergence of self-report studies and labora- 2002, the defendants’ convictions were vacated. tory experiments (Candel et al. 2005, Goldstein The case of the Central Park jogger revealed et al. 2003, Grisso et al. 2003, Gudjonsson five false confessions resulting from a single 2003, Redlich & Goodman 2003, Steinberg & investigation (Kassin 2002, New York v. Wise, Cauffman 1996, Steinberg & Scott 2003, Richardson, McCray, Salaam, & Santana 2002, Viljoen et al. 2005; for reviews of this research Saulny 2002). and its implications, see Owen-Kostelnik et al. Sometimes the innocent suspects who con- 2006). Hence, it is common knowledge within fess during interrogation are younger chil- the law enforcement community that juveniles dren. This is what happened when 11-year-old are more malleable than adults, more vulnera- Ryan Harris was discovered dead in a Chicago ble to manipulation, and hence at greater risk lot a few years ago. Two weeks later, two in the interrogation room (e.g., Inbau et al. boys who were questioned by police in un- 2001, Zulawski & Wicklander 1993). In a re- recorded sessions independently described how cent survey, for example, 332 law enforcement they knocked the girl off her bike, hit her in the officers in Baltimore County, Maryland, agreed head with a brick, dragged her into weeds, and that juveniles relative to adults were immature sexually molested her, leaving her to die—facts in their decision making, focused on immedi- that matched the crime scene. The boys were 7 ate versus future consequences, malleable, and and 8 years old. One month later, prosecutors easily influenced by others (Meyer & Reppucci by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. had to drop the charges when the crime lab dis- 2007). Importantly, youth as a risk factor is not a covered semen on the victim, which the boys uniquely American problem but is, rather, a uni- were too young to produce and which matched versal phenomenon (Gudjonsson et al. 2008).

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org the DNA of a local sex offender (Kotlowitz Basic research in developmental psychology 1999; for accounts of other false confessions by provides ready explanations for these findings. children, see Fisher 1996). The fact that juveniles are at heightened risk in Based on the overrepresentation of youths the interrogation room is consistent with 100 in the population of proven false confessions years of basic research showing that adolescents and other psychological evidence to be de- are cognitively and psychosocially less ma- scribed shortly, juveniles are clearly at an in- ture than adults—exhibiting an “immaturity of creased risk for false confessions in the interro- judgment” that manifests itself in impulsive de- gation room (for reviews, see Drizin & Colgan cision making, decreased ability to consider 2004, Owen-Kostelnik et al. 2006, Scott- long-term consequences, and increased sus- Hayward 2007). Two numbers are compelling ceptibility to influence from external sources in this regard. First, within the sample of 125 (Cauffman & Steinberg 2000, Grisso et al.

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2003, Nurmi 1991, Owen-Kostelnik et al. spite innocence, than 18- to 26-year-old adults, 2006). It is also consistent with recent neuro- especially when confronted with false evidence logical research indicating that the regions of of their culpability. A second experiment tested the brain that are associated with emotion reg- the effect of positive and negative reinforce- ulation, planning, and self-control are still not ment on children aged 5 to 8. The results fully developed in adolescents (for reviews of showed that reinforcement strongly increased this literature on the adolescent brain and be- the tendency for children to make false state- havioral effects, see Steinberg 2007). In a brief ments: Of those in the reinforcement condition, overview of this research, the National Insti- 52% made false admissions of guilty knowl- tute of Mental Health (2001) thus referred to edge and 30% made false admissions of hav- the teenage brain as a “work in progress.” As ing witnessed the crime. In contrast, of chil- noted earlier, these tendencies are broad, perva- dren in the control condition, only 36% and sive, and generally accepted. In an amicus curiae 10% made false admissions of guilty knowledge brief to the Supreme Court in Roper v. Simmons and to being a witness, respectively (Billings (2005), the American Medical Association et al. et al. 2007). These findings parallel ear- (2004) noted that adolescents, compared with lier studies on the interview-relevant abilities adults, focus on opportunities for short-term of child-victims/child-witnesses (e.g., Garven gain, while simultaneously thinking less about et al. 2000). In a third study, Grisso et al. (2003) protection from losses and future consequences examined juveniles’ and young adults’ responses (this brief was cosigned by the American Psy- to hypothetical mock interrogations to see if chiatric Association, American Society for Ado- they would confess to police, remain silent, or lescent Psychiatry, American Academy of Child deny the offense. Compared with participants & Adolescent Psychiatry, American Academy 16 and older, those 15 and younger were sig- of Psychiatry and the Law, National Associa- nificantly more likely to report that they would tion of Social Workers, and National Mental confess. In a fourth set of studies, juveniles were Health Association). asked to self-report on actual interrogation ex- Scientific evidence is also strong on the more periences. In one sample of 114 justice-involved specific proposition that juveniles are vulnera- juveniles, Viljoen et al. (2005) found that sus- ble to influence in a forensic setting. Develop- pects who were 15 and younger, compared with mental psychologists had observed these com- those who were 16 and 17 years old, were sig- pliance and suggestibility tendencies in children nificantly more likely to waive their right to and adolescents long before the existence of a counsel and to confess. A survey of over 10,000 scientific study of confessions (Whipple 1909, Icelandic students aged 16–24 years similarly by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. Brown 1926). They continue to observe parallel revealed that, of those with interrogation expe- tendencies in the study of eyewitness memory riences, 7% claimed to have falsely confessed, (e.g., Finnila¨ et al. 2003; for reviews, see Ceci & with the rates higher among those with more

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org Bruck 1995, Bruck & Ceci 2004). Particularly than one interrogation experience (Gudjonsson germane to police interrogations, several stud- et al. 2006). In a massive European study, ies employing a range of methodologies have more than 23,000 juveniles from grades 8, 9, shown consistently that the risk of false con- and 10 were surveyed from seven countries— fession increases from childhood and adoles- Iceland, Norway, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, cence into adulthood. In a laboratory experi- Russia, and Bulgaria. Overall, 11.5% (2726) ment modeled after Kassin & Kiechel’s (1996) reported having been interrogated by police. described above, Redlich & Goodman (2003) Within this group, 14% reported having given accused participants of destroying a computer a false confession—rates that are substantially by pressing a forbidden key and found that ju- higher than are found among older high school, veniles aged 12 and 13 years old, and 15 and college, and university students (Gudjonsson 16 years old, were more likely to confess, de- et al. 2008).

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People with intellectual disabilities are also A heightened suggestibility in response to overrepresented in false confession cases (see misleading information, which can increase Gudjonsson 2003, Gudjonsson & MacKeith the risk of internalized false confessions, is 1994). Drizin & Leo (2004) identified at least also problematic. Research shows that wit- 28 mentally retarded defendants in their sample nesses with mental deficiencies are highly of 125 false confessions and were quick to note influenced by the insertion of leading and mis- that this 22% likely underestimates the prob- leading information into questions (Perlman lem (intelligence test scores were not available et al. 1994). In studies conducted in Great or reported in most cases). This risk factor is not Britain and the United States, respectively, terribly surprising. On standardized tests that Gudjonsson & Henry (2003) and Everington measure people’s comprehension of Miranda & Fulero (1999) found that people who are rights, comprehension scores correlate signif- mentally retarded as a group score significantly icantly with IQ. Indeed, most people who are higher than average on psychological measures mentally retarded, being limited in their cogni- of interrogative suggestibility, being more likely tive and linguistic abilities, cannot adequately to yield to leading questions and to change their comprehend their rights or know how to apply answers in response to mild negative feedback them in their own actions (Everington & Fulero (see also O’Connell et al. 2005). 1999, Fulero & Everington 1995, O’Connell To make matters worse with regard to be- et al. 2005). Specifically addressing this lack havior in the interrogation room, research of competency, Appelbaum & Appelbaum shows that people who are mentally retarded (1994) note that people who are mentally re- are limited in their capacity to foresee the con- tarded might confess to a crime merely to sequences of their actions when making legal avoid the discomfort of police interrogation— decisions (for a review, see Fulero & Everington that “[f]riendliness, as well as threats and co- 2004). For example, Clare & Gudjonsson ercion, can result in waivers and confessions” (1995) examined people’s perceptions of a (p. 493). Other researchers have described the videotaped suspect who provides a true and false Miranda warnings to mentally retarded suspects confession during an interrogation; they found as “words without meaning” (Cloud et al. 2002). that 38% of perceivers with intellectual disabil- The disproportionate numbers of mentally ities, compared with only 5% of others, be- retarded individuals in the population of proven lieved the suspect would be permitted to return false confessors suggest that they are very much home while awaiting trial. Additionally, only at risk in the interrogation room. As noted ear- 52% believed that the suspect should obtain le- lier, it is possible to distinguish between police- gal advice if innocent, compared with 90% of by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. induced false confessions involving compliance others. and those involving internalization (Kassin & Wrightsman 1985). With regard to tenden- The Innocence-Confession Paradox Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org cies toward compliance, people who are men- tally retarded exhibit a high need for approval, On September 20, 2006, Jeffrey Mark Deskovic particularly from others in positions of au- was released from a maximum-security prison thority, which reveals itself in an acquiescence in New York,where he spent 15 years for a mur- response bias (Shaw & Budd 1982). Indeed, der he said he committed but did not. Why did research shows that people who are mentally he confess? “Believing in the criminal justice retarded exhibit a strong tendency to answer system and being fearful for myself, I told them “yes” to a wide range of questions, even when what they wanted to hear,” Deskovic said. Cer- an affirmative response is incorrect and inap- tain that DNA testing on the semen would es- propriate and even in response to absurd ques- tablish his innocence, he added, “I thought it tions such as “Does it ever snow here in the was all going to be okay in the end” (Santos summer?” (Finlay & Lyons 2002). 2006, p. A1).

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Citing anecdotal and research evidence, was sent to a laboratory for testing). In princi- Kassin (2005) proposed the hypothesis that in- ple, this bluff should threaten the actual perpe- nocence itself may put innocents at risk. Specif- trator with certain detection, forcing him or her ically, he suggested that people who stand to cooperate—yet it should not similarly affect falsely accused believe that truth and justice the innocent suspect who has nothing to fear will prevail and that their innocence will be- from the evidence. But does this tactic pose a come transparent to investigators, juries, and risk to the innocent? Using the computer crash others. As a result, they cooperate fully with paradigm described above, Torkildson& Kassin police, often failing to realize that they are sus- (2008) designed a study to replicate the false ev- pects not witnesses, waiving their rights to si- idence effect and to test the effects of bluffing lence and a lawyer, and speaking freely to de- on participants pushed to admit responsibility fend themselves. Thus, although mock crimi- for a negative outcome they did not produce. nals vary their disclosures according to whether In that study, all subjects were falsely accused of the interrogator seems informed about the evi- hitting a forbidden key after the computer al- dence, innocents are uniformly forthcoming— legedly crashed. Replicating the original Kassin regardless of how informed the interrogator & Kiechel (1996) study, the presentation of a seems to be (Hartwig et al. 2005, 2006). false but incriminating eyewitness account sig- To test the hypothesis that innocent people nificantly increased the confession rate, from in particular are prone to cooperate, Kassin & 27% to 79%. In a bluff condition, in which Norwick (2004), in the study described above, subjects were told merely that the keystrokes assessed the extent to which people invoke or were recorded but could not be accessed until waive their precious Miranda rights (naturalis- the laboratory technician returned the follow- tic studies indicate that roughly 80% of people ing day, the false confession rate also signifi- waive their rights). Most innocent subjects said cantly increased—to 87%. Tothe innocent per- that they waived their rights precisely because son, the “threat” of proof implied by the bluff they were innocent: “I did nothing wrong,” represents a promise of future exoneration that, “I had nothing to hide.” The feeling of reas- paradoxically, makes it easier to confess. surance that accompanies innocence may stem from a generalized belief that the world is a just place in which human beings get what they de- Alternative Approaches serve and deserve what they get (Lerner 1980). to Interrogation It may also stem from the “illusion of trans- In light of the numerous false confession cases parency,” a tendency for people to overestimate that have surfaced in recent years, researchers by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. the extent to which their true thoughts, emo- and policy makers are wondering if the cur- tions, and other inner states can be seen by oth- rent, highly confrontational approach to inter- ers (Gilovich et al. 1998). Either way, it appears rogation is flawed and whether it is possible

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org that Miranda warnings may not adequately pro- to reform current practices without undermin- tect the citizens who need it most—those ac- ing police work. Toward this end, recent his- cused of crimes they did not commit. tory in Great Britain is instructive. Several years The naive mental state that accompanies in- ago, after a number of high-profile false con- nocence has provocative implications for the fessions, the British transitioned police from a impact of various interrogation tactics. As an classic interrogation to a process of “inves- apparently benign alternative to outright lies tigative interviewing,” the primary purpose of about evidence, for example, many interroga- which is fact finding, not the elicitation of con- tors will bluff about the presence of evidence be- fession. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act ing processed without the additional assertion of 1984 (PACE; Home Office 1985) thus sought that this evidence implicates the suspect (e.g., to reduce the use of psychological coercion. police may state simply that biological evidence Evaluating the result of this initial change in

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practice, Irving & McKenzie (1989) found that sions (which actually increased to 77% from the use of psychologically manipulative tactics 67%). Although more systematic research is had significantly declined without an accompa- needed, it seems that investigative interview- nying decline in the rate of self-incrimination. ing offers a potentially effective alternative to In 1993, the Royal Commission on Criminal the classic interrogation. Justice further reformed the practice of inter- rogation by proposing the PEACE model, us- ing this mnemonic to describe the five parts CONFESSION EVIDENCE of this approach: prepare and plan (i.e., orga- IN COURT nize the evidence and plan the interview), en- Confession evidence is so potent that “the in- gage and explain (i.e., establish a rapport and troduction of a confession makes the other communicate the purpose of the interview to aspects of a trial in court superfluous” the suspect), account (conduct a cognitive inter- (McCormick 1972, p. 316). This impact be- view to get the compliant suspect to speak freely gins with the police, who often close inves- and use conversation management to open up tigations rather than pursue exculpatory evi- the noncompliant suspect), closure (address dence or other possible suspects (Leo & Ofshe discrepancies that may appear in the suspect’s 1998, Drizin & Leo 2004), and extends to pros- narrative account), and evaluate (compare the ecutors, who often maintain their beliefs in a suspect’s final statement to evidence to resolve confessor’s guilt even after DNA evidence has inconsistencies and draw conclusions). For a established his or her innocence (Findley & full description, see Clarke & Milne (2001) and Scott 2006, Hirsch 2007). Williamson (2006). Part of the problem may be that confessions On the question of whether investigative can taint other evidence. In one study, Dror & interviewing may prove an effective replace- Charlton (2006) presented five experienced fin- ment for confrontational interrogation, some gerprint experts with pairs of prints—one from preliminary research evidence is encouraging. a crime scene, the other from the suspect—from In Great Britain, naturalistic observation sug- prior cases in which they had judged the prints gests that investigative interviews enable police to be matches or exclusions. The prints were to inculpate offenders by obtaining useful infor- accompanied either by no added information, mation from them (for a review, see Williamson by information that the suspect had confessed 2006). Recent laboratory research has also sug- (suggesting a match), or by information that gested that this approach may be promis- the suspect was in police custody at the time ing. In a series of laboratory experiments, the crime was committed (suggesting an exclu- by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. interviewers more effectively exposed mock sion). The misinformation produced a change criminals as deceptive when they strategically in 17% of the original, previously correct deci- withheld incriminating evidence than when sions. In a second study, Hasel & Kassin (2009)

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org they confronted the suspects with that evidence staged a theft and obtained photographic iden- at the outset (Hartwig et al. 2005, 2006). More tification decisions from a large number of eye- to the point, Rigoni & Meissner (2008) used witnesses who were present. One week later, the Russano et al. (2005) cheating paradigm individual witnesses were informed that the described earlier and independently varied the person they had identified denied guilt, or that use of accusatorial and inquisitorial methods of he confessed, or that a specific other lineup questioning. They found that the inquisitorial member had confessed. In response to this dis- approach produced more diagnostic, surgically closure, many witnesses went on to change their precise outcomes than the confrontational ap- initial identifications when given the oppor- proach, lowering the rate of false confessions tunity to do so—selecting the confessor and (to 17% from 40%) without producing a corre- increasing their confidence in that decision. sponding decrease in the rate of true confes- Among those who had correctly failed to make

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an initial identification, half went on to do so even when they perceive the confessions to have when told of a confession. been coerced (Kassin & Neumann 1997). In one Not surprisingly, confessions are especially study, for example, mock jurors were heavily devastating in the courtroom. When a suspect influenced by a defendant’s confession—even retracts his or her confession, pleads not guilty, if it was indisputably induced by an explicit and goes to trial, a judge determines whether and unlawful promise of leniency (Kassin & the confession was voluntary and hence admis- Wrightsman 1980). In a second study, mock sible as evidence. A jury, hearing the admissible jurors were influenced by an indirect or “sec- confession, then determines whether the defen- ondary confession” reported by an accom- dant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. But plice or jailhouse informant—even when told are people accurate judges of confessions? And that this cooperating witness had an incen- what effect does this evidence have in the full tive to claim that the defendant had confessed context of a trial? (Neuschatz et al. 2008). To assess whether police can distinguish In a mock jury experiment that well illus- between true and false confessions to actual trates the power of confessions, Kassin & Sukel crimes, Kassin et al. (2005) recruited male (1997) presented subjects with one of three ver- prison inmates to take part in a pair of video- sions of a murder trial transcript. In a low- taped interviews. Each inmate was asked to give pressure version, the defendant was said to have both a true narrative confession to the crime confessed to police immediately upon ques- for which he was incarcerated as well as a newly tioning. In a high-pressure version, participants concocted false confession to a crime he did not read that the suspect was in pain and interro- commit that was skeletally described by the ex- gated aggressively by a detective who waved perimenter. Using this procedure, Kassin et al. his gun in a menacing manner. A control ver- compiled a videotape of ten different inmates, sion contained no confession in evidence. Pre- each giving a true or false confession to one of sented with the high-pressure confession, par- five crimes: aggravated assault, armed robbery, ticipants appeared to respond in the legally burglary, breaking and entering, and automo- prescribed manner. They judged the statement bile theft. College students and police investi- to be involuntary and said it did not influ- gators judged these statements, and the results ence their decisions. Yet when it came to the paralleled those described above for judgments all-important measure of verdicts, this confes- of denials. Neither group exhibited a high level sion significantly boosted the conviction rate. of accuracy, and the police were more con- This increase occurred even when subjects were fident in their performance. A signal detec- specifically admonished to disregard confes- by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. tion analysis further revealed that police did sions they found to be coerced. This point con- not differ from students in their hit rate but cerning the power of confession evidence is bol- committed significantly more false alarms. This stered by archival analyses of actual cases, which

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org response bias was most evident among those show that when proven false confessors pled not with extensive law enforcement experience and guilty and proceeded to trial, the jury convic- those specially trained in interviewing and in- tion rates ranged from 73% (Leo & Ofshe 1998) terrogation. Presented to samples of lay peo- to 81% (Drizin & Leo 2004). These figures led ple, these results were recently replicated in Drizin & Leo (2004) to describe confessions as a study involving juvenile offenders (Honts & “inherently prejudicial and highly damaging to Kassin 2007). a defendant, even if it is the product of coercive Research on the net impact of confessions at interrogation, even if it is supported by no other trial is not more encouraging. Mock jury stud- evidence, and even if it is ultimately proven false ies have shown that confessions have more im- beyond any reasonable doubt” (p. 959). pact than other potent forms of evidence and Increasing numbers of police departments that people do not fully discount confessions in the U.S. are now videotaping entire

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interrogations, a practice that is presumed to accuracy with which judges, juries, and other deter interrogators from using highly coercive decision makers within the legal system evalu- tactics, disable frivolous defense claims of police ate confession evidence in court. In addition, re- coercion, and increase the fact finding accuracy search has focused on the variability in language of trial judges and juries by providing a full and and practical utility of Miranda rights; on how accurate record of the transaction (see Geller juvenile suspects may be uniquely vulnerable 1993, Drizin & Reich 2004, Sullivan 2004, The and unprotected inside the interrogation room; Justice Project 2007). In light of this develop- on the phenomenology of innocence and how ment, researchers have also sought to examine it may put innocents at risk to waive their rights how juries are affected by these tapes. In par- and confess, even in the face of apparently be- ticular, researchers have examined the effects nign interrogation practices; and on the effects of camera angles. In a series of studies initiated of videotaping full interrogations, as opposed by Lassiter & Irvine (1986), people have been to mere confessions, for presentation in court. shown mock interrogations from three differ- Having identified a number of problems, ent camera angles so that the suspect only, the the research community is poised in the com- interrogator only, or both were salient. Consis- ing years to test and propose possible improve- tently, lay observers who were focused on the ments. In a truly collaborative effort that would suspect judged the situation as less coercive than bring together law enforcement profession- those focused on the interrogator or on both als, prosecutors, defense lawyers, judges, social parties. By directing visual attention toward the scientists, and policy makers, new methods of accused, the camera can thus lead jurors to un- interviewing and interrogating suspects and derestimate the pressures brought to bear by presenting their statements in court should be the “hidden” detective (Lassiter et al. 1992). assessed. In principle, all parties would agree Additional studies have confirmed that people that the surgical objective throughout this in- are more attuned to the situational factors that vestigatory chain of events is to secure out- prompt confessions whenever the interrogator comes that are diagnostic—namely, confes- is on camera than when the focus is solely on sions from and the conviction of offenders but the suspect (Lassiter & Geers 2004, Lassiter et not the innocent. Hence, empirical data are al. 2001). Under these more balanced circum- needed, particularly from laboratory interro- stances, juries make more informed attributions gation paradigms that independently vary both of voluntariness and guilt when they see not guilt and innocence and establish causal con- only the final confession but also the conditions nections to the diagnosticity of outcomes. In under which it was elicited (Lassiter et al. 2002). addition, field research is needed to assess how by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. Interestingly, experienced trial judges are simi- the videotaping of entire interrogations affects larly influenced by this variation in camera per- police, suspects, the process of interrogation, spective (Lassiter et al. 2007). and ultimately the accuracy with which judges

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org and juries evaluate confession evidence. Finally, social scientists are often called FUTURE DIRECTIONS as consultants in cases involving disputed In the wake of mounting numbers of DNA ex- confessions, at times testifying as experts at onerations, roughly one-quarter of which in- suppression hearings and trials. In Great volved false confessions, law and social science Britain, experts have had substantial recent im- researchers have actively sought to understand pact within the courts. In the United States, (a) the processes by which police interview however, judges serve as active gatekeepers of crime suspects in an effort to distinguish the expert testimony by ascertaining whether an truth tellers from the liars; (b) the interroga- individual expert, if qualified, offers scientific, tion tactics that increase the tendency to confess technical, or other specialized knowledge that is among offenders and innocents alike; and (c) the reliable (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals

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1993) or generally accepted within the dis- searchers must delve into the realm of common- cipline (Frye v. United States 1923)—and, in sense psychology to assess what jurors know either case, that will assist the trier of fact (Fed. about the processes of interviewing and interro- Rules Evidence 2006, Rule 702). To address this gation and, more importantly, their psycholog- latter question of whether juries would benefit ical and behavioral effects on people accused of from an expert’s testimony on confessions, re- crimes.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT The author is not aware of any conflicts of interest that might be perceived as affecting the objectivity of this review.

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Annual Review of Law and Social Science Contents Volume 4, 2008

Home Away from Home: Collaborative Research Networks and Interdisciplinary Socio-Legal Scholarship Stuart A. Scheingold ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp1 Conditionality: Forms, Function, and History Sarah L. Babb and Bruce G. Carruthers ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp13 Organizations, Regulation, and Economic Behavior: Regulatory Dynamics and Forms from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Century Marc Schneiberg and Tim Bartley pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp31 The Political Economy of American Indian Gaming Stephen Cornell pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp63 After Inclusion Devon Carbado, Catherine Fisk, and Mitu Gulati pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp83 Divergent Paths: Conflicting Conceptions of Employment Discrimination in Law and the Social Sciences Robert L. Nelson, Ellen C. Berrey, and Laura Beth Nielsen pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp103 by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. Providing Expert Knowledge in an Adversarial Context: Social Cognitive Science in Employment Discrimination Cases Susan T. Fiske and Eugene Borgida pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp123 Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org Failed Forensics: How Forensic Science Lost Its Way and How It Might Yet Find It Michael J. Saks and David L. Faigman ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp149 Convicting the Innocent Samuel R. Gross ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp173 The Psychology of Confessions Saul M. Kassin pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp193 Forecasting Methods in Crime and Justice Richard Berk ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp219

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Undercover Policing and the Shifting Terms of Scholarly Debate: The United States and Europe in Counterpoint Jacqueline E. Ross ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp239 Jury Systems Around the World Valerie P. Hans pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp275 Women in the Legal Profession Fiona Kay and Elizabeth Gorman pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp299 The Reform of Legal Education in East Asia Setsuo Miyazawa, Kay-Wah Chan, and Ilhyung Lee ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp333 The Countermajoritarian Difficulty: From Courts to Congress to Constitutional Order Mark A. Graber ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp361 Toward a New Sociology of Rights: A Genealogy of “Buried Bodies” of Citizenship and Human Rights Margaret R. Somers and Christopher N.J. Roberts ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp385

Indexes

Cumulative Index of Contributing Authors, Volumes 1–4 pppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp427 Cumulative Index of Chapter Titles, Volumes 1–4 ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp429

Errata

An online log of corrections to Annual Review of Law and Social Science articles may be found at http://lawsocsci.annualreviews.org by WILLIAMS COLLEGE on 11/03/08. For personal use only. Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2008.4:193-217. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org

vi Contents