After watching the film, “The Confessions”, I realized that false confessions are not only possible but more common than I think many would expect. It is a tragic but true fact that some interrogators will do anything to get a confession from a suspect, regardless of where evidence points. It seems that these interrogators just want someone behind bars, even if that person is innocent. I’m not sure how the justice system has strayed from a genuine striving for truth; it could be merely the bent of the human heart to put selfish pride over true justice. In the film, we saw (mainly) four men who were wrongly accused of the violent rape and murder of Michelle Moore Bosko. A man by the name of Danial Williams was the first to become wrongly roped into this horrific crime. His story stands out to me because he was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time. The husband of Michelle, William Bosko, asked Danial for help after finding his wife’s lifeless body and Danial did what any of us would do; he helped. He called the police and offered his services to William. And how was he repaid? He was ruthlessly bullied by the police into giving a false confession and was imprisoned for years. Despite the fact that his DNA was nowhere to be found in the crime scene and that his confession was not consistent with the facts of the crime, law enforcement proceeded with the charges. This becomes a pattern as more and more men are brought into the interrogation room and charged with Michelle’s brutal death. Although this is only one story, it is a very real story and unfortunately, not unique. In fact, the Michelle Bosko case is very much like the Marcellius Bradford case. Four men coerced into confessing to a crime that they did not commit. Both of these cases show how some tactics that interrogators use are not only unethical, but not in the best interest of finding the truth. Hours upon hours of aggressive and manipulative interrogation could wear the strongest man down. And it has. They promise the suspects “protection” from the death penalty. They will cut a deal with the suspect in return for a confession. At that point, the suspects mind is so broken down from interrogation that common sense and critical thinking take their leave entirely. They think their options are either tell the truth and die (or just have a generally worse outcome) or make up a false confession and live with lesser consequences. It is heartbreaking to think that good-standing, innocent citizens have been put through something like this, through no fault of their own. The justice system has been put in place to protect the innocent and condemn the guilty but because of the apathy and/or corruptness of only a few individuals within the system, many innocent lives have been ruined and will continue to be ruined. There are so many amazing and respectable aspects of the criminal justice system, but there are also many wrong and harmful aspects. I say this to make the point that the justice system should not be given the benefit of the doubt and we, as American citizens, should be pushing for justice and exploring new avenues and opportunities to better the system. Specifically, when it comes to interrogation methods and motives behind lines of questioning. False confessions are among the leading causes of wrongful convictions and since the 1980s, six studies have documented 250 interrogation-induced false confessions. The number of interrogation-induced false confessions should be 0 and this issue should not be dropped until it is. Sources: https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=5054 https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-the-confessions/?source=social https://www.law.northwestern.edu/legalclinic/wrongfulconvictions/exonerations/il/marcelliusbradford.html https://falseconfessions.org/factsheet/#:~:text=More%20than%20two%2Dthirds%20of,there%20have%20been%20250%20exo nerations.
