| In recent history, much attention has been paid to the socially critical phenomenon of false confessions. For the most part, false confessions have been discovered as the result of either judicial proceedings or the application of science decades following a defendant's incarceration. This may indicate that confessions are received by criminal investigators who are unaware of the veracity of the statements being made by their suspects. Due to investigators' inability to determine the veracity of confessions, many innocent defendants have been sanctioned due to false confessions. There is no documentation readily available to determine how many have been wrongfully executed due to false confessions. The need for this study was founded upon the failure of criminal investigators to adequately recognize the hallmarks of the false confession, and in doing so, provided an avenue of undeserved legal sanctions upon those who choose to falsely confess. This research sought to understand the phenomenon of false and truthful confessions based on the lived experiences of criminal investigators. Using phenomenology, this study used qualitative interviews to determine what criminal investigators believed is the causation of truthful and false confessions. Most respondents believed that confessions could be recognized by simply comparing the suspects' statements to their knowledge of case evidence. The causation of false confessions was quite diversified. Coupled with a lack of individual or systemic study of false confessions, the respondents reported a wide variety of suspect characteristics as most likely responsible for confessions. These characteristics were also germane to the suggestibility of suspects most likely to falsely confess. The respondents reported that age, mental illness, intelligence, drug use, and chemical-based withdrawal symptoms are causative factors for providing false confessions. None of the respondents believed that alcohol intoxication is contributory to false confessions. Lastly, the inherent reliability of confessions in court was based upon the defendant's competency rather than the interrogation that produced the confession. The significance of training criminal investigators to recognize and prevent false confessions can only have a positive impact on social change. With the enhanced abilities of criminal investigators, perhaps fewer innocent suspects will be induced to falsely confess and receive undeserved legal sanctions. |
