Admissibility of false-confession testimony: know thy standard.

False confessions, expert testimony, and admissibility.

The confession of a criminal defendant serves as a prosecutor's most compelling piece of evidence during trial. Courts must preserve a defendant's constitutional right to a fair trial while upholding the judicial interests of presenting competent and reliable evidence to the jury. When a defendant seeks to challenge the validity of that confession through expert testimony, the prosecution often...

The (In)Admissibility of False Confession Expert Testimony

Juror Beliefs About Police Interrogations, False Confessions, and Expert Testimony

Although there has been a rapid expansion in research on police interrogations and false confessions, little is known about the beliefs of potential jurors as to these issues. In collaboration with a trial research firm, we recruited 461 jury-eligible men and women who matched the demographic characteristics of jury pools in several states. Surrogate jurors responded to questions and statements...

Recent Developments Criminal Law: Second Circuit Holds Cautionary Instructions Insufficient to Cure Potential Prejudice Resulting from Admission of Co-conspirator's Confession

United States v. Bozza' has seemingly departed from the heretofore existing rule that a proper cautionary instruction in a multi-defendant trial can cure the prejudicial effect of one defendant's out-ofcourt confession on co-defendants. The appellants were convicted of various crimes related to the burglary of several post offices and the subsequent receipt and transportation of stolen stamps. ...

The Social Psychology of False Confessions

Inspired by DNA exoneration cases and other wrongful convictions of innocent people who had confessed to crimes they did not commit, and drawing from basic principles of social perception and social influence, a vast body of research has focused on the social psychology of confessions. In particular, this article describes laboratory and field studies on the “Milgramesque” processes of police i...