Two Interrogation Cases Watched in Class

Summary David Simon elaborates to explain what happens in an interrogation room to readers in a passage from “Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets,” which caused a couple of television shows. Simon gives points of view from the perspective of the interrogator, which can be a detective or a police officer, as well as point of views from the suspect being interrogated. In his book, Simon bases everything he knows from the police station in Baltimore.

It may seem implausible that someone would confess to a crime they did not commit, but it does happen, and the prevalence of such confessions occurs at a much higher rate in juvenile populations. Aggressive interrogation methods, like those used in the Reid Technique, lead to a greater probability of false confessions among juvenile subjects than if those techniques had not been used. In a study completed by University of San Francisco law professor and renowned false confession researcher, Richard Leo, 35% of the 125 proven false confession cases he sampled included confessors who were under the age of 18 (2004). Before we examine what it is about this technique that prompts false confessions, we must first outline the systematic, nine-step process developed by John E. Reid & Associates nearly forty years ago.

Many of today’s interrogation models being utilized in police investigations have an impact on false confessions. The model that has been in the public eye recently is the social psychological process model of interrogation known as the “The Reid Technique.” There are two alternatives used by the police today to replace the Reid Technique, one is the PEACE Model and the other is Cognitive Interviewing. These methods are not interrogation techniques like Reid but interview processes.

As the video evidently shows, the overall case was fabricated with the use of psychological tactics that broke some fundamental aspects of ethics. Getting one to confess to a crime is never easy, hence borne the numerous methods introduced and followed by almost all law enforcement officers to “read” possible suspects during interrogations. Further, with the right assembly of personal/background information, the combination of circumstances/techniques, and psychological manipulation can even make the most hardened suspect to confess (“How Police Interrogation works”). To add on, there was a time when “physical abuse” toward the possible suspects during interrogations and the confession obtained thereafter was accepted in court (“How Police Interrogation works”); Not only is this a misuse of authoritative power, but also unethical—inflicting mental /or physical pain upon the individual to confess almost seems extreme.

When questioning witnesses of a crime, detectives may choose a specific technique; one technique is the Reid Technique. The Reid Technique is a multi-step questioning method that pressures the witnesses or the accused to admit to the crime. It is used in North America. According to Professor Brent Snook, a psychologist at the Memorial University in Newfoundland, the Reid Technique is “Starsky and Hutch”, where two hot head detectives “beat up” their suspects to encourage them confess (http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/11/25/youre-guilty-now-confess-false-admissions-put-polices-favourite-interrogation-tactic-under-scrutiny/). This paper will examine the steps of the Reid Technique, as well as reveal substantial evidence that this technique should be banned. This technique has led to false confessions. Not only does this mean that someone has been punished that isn’t guilty, but it also means the real criminal has not been found and punished. The arguments against the use of this technique are the following:

[I]n 2001, three young men robbed a McDonald’s restaurant in Milwaukee. 14-year-old Jerrell C.J. was arrested in connection with the offense, taken to the police station, booked, and placed in an interrogation room. In the room, Jerrell was handcuffed to a wall and left alone for approximately two hours. At 9 a.m., Police Detectives Ralph Spano and Kurt Sutter entered the interrogation room. The detectives introduced themselves, removed Jerrell’s handcuffs, and asked him some background questions. Jerrell stated that he was 14 years old and in the eighth grade. He also provided the names, addresses, and phone numbers of his parents and siblings. Jerrell was advised of his Miranda rights, and the detectives then began to question Jerrell about the armed robbery. Jerrell denied any involvement. The detectives challenged this denial and encouraged Jerrell to be "truthful and honest" and "start standing up for what he did." Jerrell again denied his involvement. The detectives again challenged his denial.

The most known is the Reid Technique, which is the one we see in murder and crime shows. In the article "How Police Interrogate Murder Suspects." The article describes the Reid Technique as “an accusatory method that relies on signals like anxious body language to assess lying.” (The Guardian). The Reid technique is most common in tv dramas. It portrays suspects being interrogated in a dark room and accused of the crime, while the investigators reveal all the evidence and throw different questions every five seconds. While this technique may work for our favorite t.v. cops, in the real world some are unsure of the effects. Saul Kassin, a professor of psychology has his doubts about the Reid method and argues that, “...the Reid technique can increase the risk of false confessions, especially among young suspects or those with mental health issues.” (The Guardian). While this could be proven to be true, Mr. Kassin doesn’t have to worry. Investigators apply the method most effective for each individual case. One new technique, proven to make the suspects share more information, is called the HIG. Robert Kolker, an investigative journalist says, “...it barely feels like an oppositional interrogation at all. You're there to talk very, very little and to listen a lot and hopefully get the person to say so much that they end up contradicting verifiable information from other means.” (McEvers). The HIG method of interrogation basically focuses on the suspect talking and the interrogator asking few, but guided questions and letting the suspect ramble on, hopefully providing information vital to the case. In the interview between McEvers and Kolker, McEvers and Kolker also talk about how in big, natural lit rooms with carpet the suspects tend to share more. Studies also show if the suspect has a warm drink in their hand they are more likely to have a positive opinion of

The officers that interrogated Cathy Woods used the Reid Model which is a nine step model of interrogation that is used to extract false confessions from suspects (Bennel,Forth,Pozzulo). The Reid model is the most used form of interrogation in the United States but has problems because the way it’s used puts a lot of stress on the suspects to confess to a crime they may not even have committed. For example, having interrogations that are hours even days long and denying suspects food, water and even being able to use the bathroom will make people confess just to end the interrogation, which is what happened to Cathy Woods. Cathy Woods’s false confession falls into the Coerced-compliant category because she confessed to a crime she knew she didn’t commit, but did it anyway to end the interrogation. Cathy Woods also vulnerable to false confessions because of her mental illness. To avoid false confessions such as Cathy Woods there must be safety nets in place that would be able to capture these inadequate interrogations. For instance, Saul Kassin a distinguished Professor of Psychology suggests we record all interrogations and have it reviewed by a judge before a trial starts. This way our chances of catching a false confession goes up and we can avoid people who are innocent from serving harsh

The question of whether or not juveniles have the knowledge or maturity to waive or exercise their rights comes to be very controversial in situations of juvenile interrogations. There is a discrepancy between whether juveniles should be responsible enough to exercise their rights or if they are immature, vulnerable, and all together incapable of understanding the rights they are granted. Many people believe that juveniles should have a parent present during interrogations to guide them through their rights while others believe that juveniles who commit crimes should be held equally as responsible for their actions as adults.

Both the client, Lillie Bonifant and the defendant, Joe Roper, are student athletes at Justice City University (JCU). Ms. Bonifant, who is a diver for the university, did not do well on her final dive at the school’s swim tournament. Ms. Bonifant friend’s took her out on the night of the altercation with hopes of trying to cheer her up. On March 14, 2015, Bonifant and her friends arrived at the Lonely Turtle at approximately 10:00pm. Mr. Roper and his friends arrived at the Lonely Turtle shortly before 10:30. Mr. Roper was in a good mood that night since he found out that he received an internship for the summer.

The client’s younger sister recently had an accident where she almost fell through thin ice while skating with her brother and cousin. She told her parents that Henry pushed her towards the thin ice and was laughing as the ice began to crack. As the parents questioned their son about the incident, Mark, came forward and explained that Henry had been doing things that he should not be doing. Mark accused Henry of torturing and killing a neighborhood dog, throwing a stuffed dummy off of an overpass and causing an accident, plotting to kill his younger sister, and had even threatened him if he told on Henry. The client’s mother at first did not believe that her son could at all be capable of such things and had dismissed the incidents as sibling rivalry.

This particular study is captivating because it narrows down the causes of wrongful convictions of innocent people, whether it’s the interrogators applying inappropriate methods of the Reid Technique, such as misclassification, coercion, psychological manipulation, and contamination. (Orlando) “The Reid Technique of interrogation consists of essentially three steps. Custody and isolation (i.e., the suspect is detained and isolated, anxiety and uncertainty are generated in order to weaken resistance). Confrontation (i.e., the suspect 's guilt is assumed and he or she is confronted with alleged incriminating evidence that may or may not be genuine; denials are rejected, even if they happen to be true, and the consequence of continued denial is emphasized), and minimization (i.e., the interrogator tries to gain the suspect 's trust and provides face-saving excuses for the crime, including suggesting that it was an accident or that the victim deserved it) (…) During the interrogation the investigators use tactics of imbedding trust to lure detainees to comply and achieve a legal outcome which could lead to reducing longer sentencing if the detainee confesses. Also if there are multiple co-perpetrators investigators look to probe the detainee that someone has cast blame on the individual, so therefore they must engage with the police and own up to their part in the crime (Douglas & Rita). The Reid Technique not only is it used illegitimately but it placing innocent individuals

All suspects are interrogated effectively. And within the laws so everything or at lease most will be able to use in court.

3. Compare the outcome of practice the Reid Technique while interviewing a youth suspect with evidence and youth suspect without evidence.

One of the best training programs to implement into the police department is the Reid interrogation techniques. Interrogation and interviewing techniques became popular in 1947 by John E. Reid and Associates. Joseph P. Buckley stated that “The Reid Technique of Interviewing and Interrogation is now the most widely used approach to question subjects in the world (Buckley P. J., 2000).” There three- parts to the Reid process for solving a crime. The first stage that should be taking is to collect and analyze relative information from the crime scene thing that offers insight to the possible suspect and determine the direction an investigation should take. The second stage of the process interviewing people of interest using Behavior Analysis Interview (BAI) (Buckley P. J., 2000). The Behavior Analysis Interview is a non-accusatory process that allows detectives to interview a suspect using a question and answer procedure to provoke a suspect to show non- verbal truthfulness or deception. The third stage, if the offender has not admitted to the crime an accusatory interrogation is administered (Leave no marks, 2007). The Reid interrogation technique is believed to be a fail proof technique ,however, there are some reservations against using this technique on juvenile offenders (Constitutional Law(n.d). Implementing the Reid technique into the police departments learning curriculum will truly