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Allison D. Redlich iIIIRG Conference, Stavern , Norway June 24, 2010

INTERROGATING Offenders with Serious Mental Illness: THE PREVALENCE AND REASONS BEHIND FALSE CONFESSIONS. Allison D. Redlich iIIIRG Conference, Stavern , Norway June 24, 2010. Police Interrogation Research. Large increase in research conducted on false confessions

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Allison D. Redlich iIIIRG Conference, Stavern , Norway June 24, 2010

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  1. INTERROGATING Offenders with Serious Mental Illness: THE PREVALENCE AND REASONS BEHIND FALSE CONFESSIONS Allison D. Redlich iIIIRG Conference, Stavern, Norway June 24, 2010

  2. Police Interrogation Research • Large increase in research conducted on false confessions • Situational risk factors: certain techniques, length of interrogation • Dispositional risk factors: young age and mental impairment • Over-representation in the criminal justice system • Over-representation among identified false confessors

  3. False Confession Research • Two problematic issues 1. Knowledge is based on, or generated from, specialized subset of egregious cases [coerced-compliant]

  4. Confession Continuum Voluntary Coerced

  5. Confession Continuum Voluntary Coerced

  6. False Confessions Objectively Proven FCs Subjectively Reported FCs • Majority are Voluntary (protecting true perpetrator) • Property crimes, not violent or sexual offenses • 33% retracted and asserted their innocence • Appear to be more common • Almost all Coerced (police induced) • 92% Murder and Rape • Innocent Insisters • Appear to be rare

  7. Study 1 • Interviewed 1249 offenders with mental illness • At 6 data collection sites • In jail, at court, or in the community • Recently arrested • For 90 minutes on a variety of topics • Redlich, Summers, & Hoover (2010). Self-reported false confessions and false guilty pleas among offenders with mental illness. Law and Human Behavior, 34, 79-90.

  8. Total Sample, n = 1249 • Brooklyn, NY: n = 96 • Washoe County, NV: n = 104 • San Francisco County, CA: n = 264 • Santa Clara County, CA: n = 336 • Hennepin County, MN: n = 244 • Marion County, IN: n = 205

  9. Sample Summary • 61% men • Mean Age = 36.5 years • 12th grade education • Most (86% or more) have a serious mental illness • Average Number of Arrests is 16 • Average number of years offending is 16 years • Almost half have been arrested for a violent/ serious crime

  10. False Confessions • Did you ever confess or admit to the police that you did a crime when you really did not do the crime? • If yes: • Number of times • Why (four choices plus ‘other’) • Most serious offense

  11. Self-Reported FC RatesYES to FC/Number in Sample New York: 22/95 = 23% Nevada: 12/103 = 12% CA 1 (SF): 67/264 = 25% CA 2 (SC): 93/335 = 28% Minnesota: 62/242 = 26% Indiana: 18/204 = 9% Total: 274/1243 = 22%

  12. Number of False Confessions • Zero times, n = 969 people, 78% of entire sample • One time = 46% • 2 or 3 times = 34% • 4 to 10 times = 14% • 11 or more times = 6% N = 274 (22%)

  13. NATURE VS. NURTURE DISPOSITIONAL VS. SITUATIONAL

  14. Number of Possible Events • How many times have you falsely confessed? • How many times have you been arrested in your life? • # of FCs/# of arrests

  15. Self-Reported FC Events NY: 33/836 = 3.9% NV: 17/1007= 1.7% CA 1 [SF]: 163/5613 = 2.9% CA 2 [SC]: 331/4387= 7.5% MN: 264/4942 = 5.3% IN: 33/2466 = 1.3% Total 844/19,251 = 4.4%

  16. Self-Reported FC Events: Total Sample • Across 1243 individuals, • Across 19,251 arrests, • False confessions were self-reported as occurring 844 times or 4%

  17. Most Serious Crime: FC • Person Crimes 33.2% • Murder and Rape 3.3% • Property Crimes 31.0% • Drug Crimes 24.5% • Public Order Crimes 8.8%

  18. Reasons for False Confession • Protecting True Perpetrator: 53% • Police Pressure: 48% • Believed Did Do Crime: 26% • Wanted to go home/ 65% stop questioning:

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