Comments on: Why Do Innocent People Confess?

By: Faye

Faye — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 04:11:38 +0000

Good evening everyone,
I am going throught the same thing here in this little town of Bowling Green, Virginia.
My son way charge with robbery among other charges. He didn’t do it and only heard about what had happen when he return back into town. It had something to do with a person that he usually hang with. When the detectives came to ask him questions they some how turn it into a confession and now they are tying to send my son to prison. MY son is only 25 and never been in trouble for any reason. They have not evidence and what make this story unique is that the store owner said it wasn’t my son and the detectives still try to frame and I shall say frame him. This stuff with the judicial system is really beganning to become corrupt and something needs to be done about it. Right now I am between a rock and hard place trying to save my son. What is a Mother to do.

By: tp5sk0

tp5sk0 — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 01:23:43 +0000

This is last part of an essay I wrote a few years ago about my son’s imprisonment.

According to the Illinois law** used against him a grand jury indictment did not seem to be necessary (so there was no grand jury). Anyhow, they say a good prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich even on a bad day. Witnesses of a crime were completely unnecessary and there were no witnesses! Physical evidence was collected at the time and sent to the State Police. However, none of this evidence was ever turned over to the defense to our knowledge! By law it is required to be! In addition, the defense attorney we hired wrote a note to my wife stating that he didn’t want any physical evidence! Well we certainly wanted it. For the simple reason if Jacob’s confession were true as the police and prosecutor alleged there should have been copious amounts of physical and DNA evidence linking Jacob to a real crime! If there wasn’t then as we believe a bogus confession would be just that bogus! The law states this was all totally unnecessary for the state to get a conviction. So there was no evidence****! Prosecutorial threats of thirty years (30) each on all of the seven counts will make anyone who were ignorant of their rules like us cut a deal to cut your own throat! Their rules are their are no rules! So No grand jury, no witnesses, no evidence, no trial, what a state! Only a very real conviction!
Here is something that should further chill the hearts of health care workers in Illinois. I recently told an attorney, “You guys may as well back up paddy wagons up to every health care facility in the state of Illinois and arrest every doctor, nurse, and health care worker in the state”. Because using this law just like Jacob they “touch” in the course of their job everyday. Any hint of suspicion where a defendant may be unfortunate to not “appear” innocent by the reckoning of this law is going to prison!” That attorney just couldn’t understand why I said that! Well, I’ve seen how lawyers, police, and politicians abuse the law in their own self-serving way! After all, it is the Dewey Oxbergers who rule the world. Isn’t it?

* Class X doubles the normal prison sentence for repeat offenders (those twice convicted of the same Class X felony) and for “heinous” offenders (those whose crime is “accompanied by exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior indicative of wanton cruelty”). Habitual criminals (those convicted of three Class X felonies) receive mandatory life sentences.
DAVID F. SCHWARTZ
Assistant professor of government and public affairs, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, he holds the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D.
** Illinois Criminal Sexual Assault Act
720 ILCS 5/12-13
•An act of sexual penetration
•with the use of force or threat of force; or when the victim is unable to understand the nature of the act or give knowing consent.
•*** “Sexual penetration” is defined as any contact, however slight, between the sex organ or anus of one person by an object, the sex organ, mouth or anus of another person, or any intrusion, however slight, of any part of the body of one person or of any animal or object into the sex organ or anus of another person.
•****Evidence of emission of semen is not required to prove sexual penetration.

By: Rochelle

Rochelle — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:45:39 +0000

My boyfriend is doing a life sentence for a crime that he didnt commit.And all I want is for him to get out

By: Clare, Withington

Clare, Withington — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:51:57 +0000

The Stefan Kiszko case is shocking and said to be one of the worst miscarriages of justice in legal history. I cannot believe that poor man went through 16 years of imprisonment and wrongly convicted of a violent rape attack, the evidence that proved his innocence was not brought up in court, such as his illness and the fact that he could not physically have committed the crime because of his condition. It sickens me that the men who sent him down were subject to promotions. Poor Stefan died months after his release of a heart attack.

By: Human Project

Human Project — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:43:49 +0000

I urge people to read Saul Kassin’s article. He briefly touches on the “Central Park Jogger” — the young female stock broker assaulted and left for dead in 1989.

Media hysteria over teens going on “wilding” rampages meant that the usual suspects were rounded up and convicted. Five young black men spent the 1990s in jail and were finally released in 2002 when the real rapist, already in prison for another crime, bragged about the assault to an imate and was found to have been the rapist via DNA evidence.

They confessed because they cracked under the relentless pressure and just wanted the harassment to end.

It doesn’t sound plausible, does it — until you start looking at the data.

About 1/4 of DNA exonerations were for death-row inmates who were on death-row because of false confessions; once you make a confession, its not easily retracted.

Readers, what is the solution to the waste of lives mispent in jail and wrong convictions?

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 21:07:13 +0000

The Cohens deserved to be put away. I KNOW the Cohens, and I know they are pretty f’ing far from being innocent little boys. Even if they hadn’t commited this crime, they have done enough in the past to warrant being put away for life.

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:55:30 +0000

I am writing this on behalf of a family member who is of a crime but has been convicted and sent to prison for life for a total of 31 yrs!
There was no EVIDENCE to convict David Or Ashley Cohen from Sheffield but yet they were still convicted on circumstancial evidence purly because the police placed certain evidence together to make it look as if they were guilty.
For example, the police got an inmate in the prison where David & Ashley were remanded to go an basically retrive information which would help them in there case and in return give the inmate a plea bargin as to where he would be released early an in this case he WAS granted release 1 month later! Which also went against them in trail but yet personally if i was given a plea bargin to be realeased early i would do what ever it took also…

Also the 2 main prosectuion whitnesses that was called to the trail was turned into hostile whitness as they admited lying in there previous statements.

I truley believe the REAL crime was commited among the police force as they CONSPIRED amongst themself’s to put away two people

Innocent people are forced to do course’s once convicted as they are told this will help them down the road to them being released but most people refuse as they feel by doing this that they ARE guilty of doing a crime they didn’t commit!

By: Points of Interest #26 « Mind, Soul, and Body

Points of Interest #26 « Mind, Soul, and Body — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:23:05 +0000

[...] John M. Grohol at World of Psychology delves into a study that looked at the complex reasons that innocent people confess to crimes they did not commit. [...]

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:34:30 +0000

As long as the trial system functions as it does, where conviction is sought without regard to the whole situation, you’re absolutely correct. I ‘caught a case,’ as they call it in jail, this way: a man tried to break into my car once, and I hit him as I tried to drive away. Explaining that to the police officer on the scene was my confession to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. I have to live with a felony forever.