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False Confessions In West Of Memphis

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The aspect of psychology and law research from this week is correlated to the week four-course material is most relevant to the topic of interrogations and false confession techniques that are used by the detectives. In the case that was presented in the documentary West of Memphis is an investigation of a failure of justice in Arkansas.
The interrogation methods from the detectives lead to a false confession. A false confession is an admission to a criminal act that the confessor did not commit (Greene & Heilbrun, 2014, p. 165). Interrogation induces false confessions to tend to occur in more serious cases like homicides and other high stakes felonies when the police are under pressure to solve the crime and that use more psychologically coercive …show more content…

As a result, in the case of the West Memphis Three law enforcement and the legal system seem so hurried about placing these three teenage boys behind bars even though they didn’t have the right people in prison. They had a created a messy investigation without any evidence leading to the defendants. Also when there is a confession that is false when there is scientific evidence most commonly DNA that definitively establishes the defendant’s innocence (Greene & Heilbrun, 2014, p. 166). The West Memphis Three in 1993 is about the bodies of three young eight-year-old boys - Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers – were found bound, mutilated and drowned in a drainage canal in the Robin Hood Hills neighborhood of West Memphis. The detectives used coercive interrogation that was demonstrated in the documentary. For that reason, the West Memphis Three were local teenagers Jessie Misskelley, Jr., 17; Jason Baldwin, 16, and Damien Echols, 18 were linked to the crime after Misskelley confessed and the prosecution claimed it was a satanic cult murder. The most compelling evidence yet was introduced in open court Misskelley’s tape confession made to police (West of Memphis, 2012). In 1994 the jury found the defendants guilty of the murders Echols was sentenced to death row and to die by lethal injection. His co-defendants Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley received a life sentence. In 2007, DNA evidence proved that none of the genetic material found at the crime scene matched any of the defendants. The attorneys and the West Memphis Three continued to fight for full exoneration putting their freedom in the hand of the justice system or agree to enter the Alford Plea. Alford Plea is a guilty plea in criminal court whereby a defendant does

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Police interviewed Echols many times, but he denied any involvement in the murders. They also interviewed Echols’ friend, Jason Baldwin, and he also denied his involvement, but police would not believe the pair. Another friend of Echols was Jesse Misskelley, he would babysit for his neighbor and would tell her that Echols would drink blood and that they would go to “esbat,” which is a gathering of witches. Believing that these three men were the murderers of the three little boys, the media gave them the name “West Memphis Three.” Misskelley, being partly mentally retarded, was interviewed by the police for hours and like the previous two, denied being a part of the murders and any involvement in devil worshipping.

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One of the main pieces of evidence that prosecutors used against the West Memphis Three relied on the confession given by Jessie Misskelley. This so-called “confession” consisted of a story that placed both Echols and Baldwin at the scene of the crime, included information directly fed to Misskelley, and above all, contained major discrepancies within the story Misskelley provided versus the events that actually took place. During the first recorded confession, Misskelley incorrectly identified the time of the murder more than once, claiming that the “events took place about 9:00 a.m. on May 5” and later “chang[ing] that time to 12:00 noon,” which was still incorrect(). He also mentioned that “[the three boys] had skipped school that day,” when, in fact, they had attended class and were accounted for, along with misidentifying the item used to tie up the boys, claiming the item was rope when it was actually shoelaces that were used(). Misskelley also implied that the victims were raped, though no evidence supported his indication.

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If more people knew that when they were brought in for an interrogation, there was not going to be fabricated evidence, promises that may not be upheld, or over exaggerations of the crime, they may not feel as nervous or anxious, given that they will genuinely be seen as innocent. There is always the possibility that this proposal may not be a hundred percent efficient, but in theory it appears that it will be beneficial for more people than not. The false confession rate can be anticipated to decrease significantly, especially in coerced-compliant and coerced-internalized instances. If there are no promises being made, like the promise to go home if a confession is given, suspects will be less compelled to give in and say that they are guilty, even when they know they are not. Again, if there is no deception, innocent suspects or suspects who may be easily taken advantage of, will not begin to believe that they are indeed guilty of a crime that they inherently

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