Professional Resource Press Jurors are more likely to convict on the basis of a confession than any other evidence, even when the defendant later claims the confession was nonvoluntary. This is because lay persons don't understand how anyone, short of being physically tortured, can confess to a crime he didn't commit. Few people understand the common interrogation tactics used by police who believe, perhaps mistakenly, that they have the right suspect and that their role is to get a confession, through trickery and deceit if necessary. Although no one knows just how often people confess to crimes they didn't commit, there have been enough cases to make it clear that this is a significant problem. The Innocence Project (www.innocenceproject.org) as of March, 2006 had documented 174 cases of wrongful convictions where the defendant was later exonerated by DNA evidence. Many of these cases involved false confessions. Since DNA evidence is often unavailable, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Dr. DeClue's book is designed to assist psychologists working on criminal cases involving interrogations and confessions. It is also clear and readable enough for a lay person to understand and comprehensive enough to be of great value to police and attorneys. In Part I, the book begins with the reasons suspects confess during police interrogations and examines different explanatory models for this, including the Reid model (Inbau, Reid, Buckley, & Jayne, 2001 ), Gudjonsson (2003), and Ofshe and Leo (Leo, 1992; Of she & Leo, 1997). Included in this section is a description of laboratory research demonstrating how confessions influence mock juries and how easily college students could be induced to confess to a "crime" they had not committed. Part I ends with policy recommendations: courts should adopt mandatory tape recording requirements in felony cases; the admissibility of confession evidence should be allowed only when the accused subject's guilt is corroborated by independent evidence; and all confessions should meet a reasonable standard of reliability before being admitted. In Part II, Dr. DeClue summarizes the relevant legal cases and explores how the Supreme Court has dealt with confessions over the years. This section, divided into Pre-Miranda, Miranda, and post-Miranda, contains chronological rulings from cases from 1884 to 2003. Written for non-attorneys, it is fascinating reading and is an invaluable resource for anyone. He then addresses the legal issues in disputed confession cases for which psychological testimony may be relevant. Part III addresses three different legal issues: waiver of Miranda rights; the voluntariness of a confession; and the reliability of a confession. Dr. DeClue describes the assessment procedures that should be taken by psychologists assessing defendants when there is a question about the admissibility of their statements. He includes a description of specialized assessment instruments such as the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales which assess suspects' vulnerability to leading or suggestive questions and the extent to which they will change their answers in response to negative feedback (Gudjonsson, 1997). Dr. DeClue presents a long list of interrogation procedures compiled from the psychological and legal literature which increase the risk of false confessions. He then lists personal factors from this literature that make some people more vulnerable to police influence than others. Finally, he describes the procedures recommended by social scientists and law enforcement agencies to avoid false confessions. The book ends with an Appendix containing a sample report of a psychological assessment addressing the Miranda waiver, the voluntariness of a confession, and the reliability of a confession. Although Dr. DeClue emphasizes that psychologists should not take on the role of the finder-of-fact, he notes that psychologists who study the psychology of interrogations and confessions have special knowledge that can help juries do their jobs. Most people cannot understand how anyone could confess to a crime that they didn't do. In such cases, it becomes extremely important for fact finders to hear testimony about the psychology of confessions. This book is an essential resource for any psychologist or other mental
health professional who conducts evaluations when there is a disputed
confession or a question concerning the competence to waive Miranda
rights. It is an invaluable resource for criminal defense attorneys as
well as for anyone who wants to understand coerced and nonvoluntary
confessions. I recommend it highly. Inbau, F. E., Reid, J. E., Buckley, J. P. , & Jayne, B. C. (2001).
Criminal Interrogation and Confessions (4th. ed.) ( Gudjonsson G. H. (2003). The Psychology of Interrogations and
Confessions: A Handbook ( Leo, R. A.(1992). From coercion to deception: The changing nature of
police Ofshe, R. J., & Leo, R. A. (1997). The social psychology of police interrogation: The theory and classification of true and false confessions. Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, 16, 189-251. Gudjonsson G. H. (1997). The Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales Manual.
East Sussex, UK: Psychology
Press. Reviewed by Hollida Wakefield, Institute for Psychological Therapies.
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