You Have the Right to Remain Silent... But Will You?

"A confession is often seen as the gold standard of evidence in a criminal case, leading to guilty verdicts even when there is no other evidence, when there's a reason to think the confession was involuntary, and even when other evidence like DNA contradicts the story in the confession. Throughout the last four or five decades, scientists have learned a lot about the psychology of interrogations and confessions."

"This survey compared the public's knowledge to that of experts in the field: psychologists who have published empirical papers in peer-reviewed journals on these topics. The results showed that these two groups agree on certain information about interrogations and confessions. But a lot of the time, the public has ideas about these topics that go against what experts know from their research. This series presents a few key findings that experts want you to know. This is Part 3."

Confessions frequently function as decisive evidence and can produce guilty verdicts even without corroboration or when contradicting forensic evidence. Research over several decades has clarified psychological processes underlying interrogations and false confessions. A 2021 survey compared general public knowledge to expert consensus and found agreement on some points but widespread public misconceptions on many interrogation topics. Miranda warnings provide legal rights but do not reliably prevent coerced or false confessions in practice. Innocent suspects commonly waive rights and speak with interrogators, which raises the risk of producing unreliable or involuntary admissions.

Read at Psychology Today