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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


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