How Does Ford Make A False Confession

Frontline: The Confessions

A Briefing on the Case

In 1997, four men were convicted of the rape and murder of Michelle Bosko. The four men were Joseph Dick, Daniel Williams, Eric Wilson, and Derek Tice. Detective Robert Ford alleged that the four U.S sailors were all guilty of the crime. One of the victim’s friends claimed that Daniel Williams was Michelle Bosko’s murderer. Based on the information provided by Bosko’s friend, Ford suspected that William was guilty. With that, the series of coercive interrogations led by detective Robert Ford began. Detective Ford began his interrogating with a label that Williams is the suspect. The psychological abuse he used led Williams to make a false confession. After closing the case, the DNA results

Even after Omar Ballard’s DNA matched the ones on the crime scene and he allegedly confessed, Ford refuted the accuracy of factual information. In the Frontline documentary, Omar Ballard kept saying that he raped and murdered Michelle Bosko alone and that the four suspects were not involved in the crime. However, the four suspects were coerced to state that they participated in the murder as well. However, Ballard later insisted that the four suspects lied because they were frightened. Though, there was a clear conflict of interest in the Norfolk Four case. Even after Omar Ballard was proven to be guilty with all the facts and evidence, Ford refused to admit that he wrongly convicted the four men of the crime. Swisher (2012) argued that the reason why some law enforcement officials deny that they wrongfully convicted someone is because there is, “a conflict between their duties to justice and their duty to themselves- their duty to seek the release of the innocent person and their interest in avoiding embarrassment and liability for themselves and their offices,” (p. 187). A possible explanation why Ford kept denying that he was wrong, maybe because he wanted to avoid embarrassment. In addition, Ford had a personal interest in not contradicting his previous work. He took seven men into custody, questioning them, in which he believed that all of them were guilty. If Ford

The police usually keep track of all the suspects. Even though, many people think that this law is beneficial, some believe that it is not. In Norfolk Four case, Megan law served as a curse. Even though the four men were innocent, the four of them were required to register as sex offenders. However, the Frontline documentary discussed that all four suspects suffered from social stigmatization after they were released. Since Eric Wilson was released four years before the others, he explained in the documentary that he was not able to work because he was stigmatized as a predator. Evans and Cublits (2014) argued that “a criminal record makes it difficult to find and maintain housing, employment, and social relationships,” (p. 593). In addition, he and his wife also suffered from social isolation because the community had labeled Eric Wilson as a sex offender. Wilson’ wife explained that they had no friends and that when she was first in a relationship with him, people warned her that Wilson was under the sex offender registry. Evans and Cublits (2014) also explained that “ a sex offense conviction also makes it difficult for [Registered Sex Offenders] to form relationships, including friendship and romantic relationships, and many suffer disintegration of their current relationships especially with extended family members,” (p. 594). Accordingly, Wilson's wife explained that her family opposed