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32 Am. J. Trial Advoc. 525 (2008-2009)
Inside Interrogation: Why Innocent People Confess

handle is hein.journals/amjtrad32 and id is 533 raw text is: Inside Interrogation: Why Innocent People Confess* Saul M Kassint Abstract The last twenty years have seen an explosion of research on issues that combine psychology and law. This Article discusses the legal and psychological phenomenon of false confession. The author begins by discussing several well known cases offalse confession. He then addresses the issue of why innocent people are initially targeted for interrogation and offers an in depth analysis of the interrogation process. I. Introduction I want to talk about confession evidence, which is psychologically rich and complex on a number of levels. In particular, I want to talk about a phenomenon that is so counterintuitive as to strike most people as unbelievable. If I were to ask, Would you ever confess to a crime you didn't commit? you would say, Of course not-and you would be absolutely certain of this assessment. Over the years, I have found that people can more easily understand why someone would kill himself than they can understand why someone would confess to a crime he did not commit. So I want to give you some background, using both actual cases and psychological research, to give you a sense as to why it happens. Let me start by saying I have been studying confession evidence now for twenty-five years, but the criminal justice system has only recently come to appreciate the problems. The reason for this newfound insight is simple: DNA. Thanks to recent advances in technology, DNA tests are now available to identify the human source of biological materials- This Article is based on a speech presented as a part of the Cordell Hull Speakers Forum by Dr. Saul Kassin at Cumberland School of Law, Samford University, on January 29, 2009. t B.S. (1974), Brooklyn College; Ph.D. (1978), University of Connecticut. Dr. Kassin is a Distinguished Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, and on leave as Massachusetts Professor of Psychology at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts.

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