Skip to main content

Innocent Until Coerced


Remedial for overall

Innocent Until Coerced

As I was looking for an article to write my blog post on, I stumbled across an article titled, Innocent people don't confess and they don't plead guilty. The article is based on the serial killer William Heirans, dubbed the Lipstick Killer. He confessed to committing three murders, however, the author is unsure about whether or not he did commit the murder. The article talks about how almost one out of every fourth case consists of a person who was falsely convicted because they falsely confessed at the time.

It is usually a trend that the guilty party never confesses to their crime. Then what pushes an innocent person to confess that they are guilty? Some people do it for the attention and others do it because they convince themselves that they are guilty. However, more often than not the victim is coerced into confessing to the crime. This especially happens when the victims can be easily influenced (in the case of adolescents, people with compliant personalities and mental disorders) and when the interrogators use harsh coercive interrogation strategies.

In this particular case, William was hit on the head repeatedly with a stack of flower pots during the time of his arrest. Furthermore, he was tortured during his time in prison. some the tactics were harsher than the tactics used in Guantanamo Bay. In addition, his cell was kept near the electrical chair which served as a reminder of what might happen to him in case he did not confess. Another tactic used was that he was told that there incriminating evidence such as a fingerprint found at the crime scene.

This begs the question of human rights and dignity in the treatment of criminals. Criminals at times are treated worse than animals and to what extent? What forces police officers to coerce someone into confessing a crime they did not commit. Is it the glory of who has the most amount of closed cases or is there some other hidden reason for strong-arming people into confessing.

Modern DNA technology has exonerated innocent people. In certain cases, it is proved it was impossible for the confessor to have committed the crime. This happens in a situation like when the missing person reappears again or that it was impossible for the person to be at the crime scene at that time. In a few cases, the actual perpetrator was apprehended.

Some of this can be seen as a reoccurring theme, in crime fiction shows such as Mentalist and CSI: Miami. If this is something that has gain so much attraction that even the TV shows have started broadcasting it then why has nothing been done it improve the situation?

Kashika Gokhale


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hardin's trauma

“After”, is a 2019 teen romantic drama directed by jenny gage that revolves around the love of  Tessa, an inexperienced teenage girl, with Hardin, a mysterious ‘bad boy’ . Hardin, the main male character, never had a secure relationship with his father. When Hardin was young, his father used to be an alcoholic with a lot of debt. When he was just eight years old, intruders broke into his home looking for his father for money, however, there was only Hardin and his mother. The intruders forced themselves on Hardin’s mother, and Hardin, who was sleeping then, came downstairs to see what was wrong. To Hardin’s shock, his mother was being raped by three men, one by one. Hardin’s mother told him to leave, however, one man forced him to watch everything.  I would assume that Hardin has PTSD as a result of this incident, and in this paper I will try to prove it. Symptoms of PTSD and scenes that prove Hardin had it: The person subsequently re-experiences the event through both intrusive memori
Post a Comment
Read more

Disorderly Delvian: A Deep Dive into "Anna Delvey" through the Lens of NPD

       A markedly thick accent, a mop of blonde hair, a magical array of unimaginably expensive clothing, and an air of calculated mystery mesh uncomfortably together to invent Anna Delvey, the centre of Netflix’s appropriately named documentary/drama series, “Inventing Anna”. This series tells or rather retells the fascinating story of how one woman deceived the creme de la creme of New York society as well as some prestigious financial institutions under the guise that she was a wealthy heiress from Germany. The series follows a journalist, Vivian Kent, as she tries to uncover the carefully constructed web of lies Anna spun around high society after her arrest, heavily interspersed by flashbacks, present-day court hearings, and interviews with the enigma herself (Shondaland, 2022). Anna as a character, infused with a troubling reality and a dramatised narrative, presents an interesting scope to study the symptomatology of Narcissistic Personality Disorder as presented in her behaviou
Post a Comment
Read more

The Psychological Depth of Good Will Hunting

Shorya Sehgal Good Will Hunting revolves around the interaction of two rebellious characters, Sean Maguire and Will Hunting, who, to a certain extent, help each other to conform slightly. Will is a brilliant but troubled, young adult. He suffers from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), inferiority complex, defence mechanisms and attachment disorder. A mathematical genius, Will had a complete disrespect for authority and for his own considerable talents. As the story progressed, I was able to see Will’s personal growth as he developed an extremely strong relationship with his therapist, Sean. Sean had fought his own battles in life which had made him tough. This significantly helped Will and Sean to connect to each other on a deep, emotional level. What struck me the most in the movie is how coherently Will's journey is tied together. His transition from an inexpressive, troubled young guy to a mature and responsible one is shown very exquisitely. By the end, he was able to be
Post a Comment
Read more