While it can be hard to understand why someone would falsely confess to a crime, psychological research has provided some answers and DNA exonerations have proven that the problem is more widespread than many people think. In approximately 25% of the wrongful convictions overturned with DNA evidence, defendants made false confessions, admissions or statements to law enforcement officials. In some false confession cases, details of the crime are inadvertently communicated to a suspect by police during questioning. Later, when a suspect knows these details, the police take the knowledge as evidence of guilt. Often, threats or promises are made to the suspect off camera and then the camera is turned on for a false confession.
You could find yourself getting into trouble with the police if you carry out an arrest that is incorrect. In order to make a citizen’s arrest, they must come under any of the three sets of guidelines, these are: * arrest for an 'indictable offence' under PACE * arrest of a person’s committing, or about to commit, a Breach of the Peace under common law * Use of reasonable force to prevent crime or arrest offenders or persons unlawfully at large under the Criminal Law Act 1967. A citizen’s arrest is still a really important law in the UK as these powers of arrest belong to Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). There are lots of differences between a citizen’s arrest and a police arrest... 1. If you believe a crime is about to be committed, you cannot make a citizen’s arrest; only if there has or is a crime being committed.
● The exclusionary rule is the main remedy that will be focused on throughout the remainder of this book. It requires that evidence obtained in violation of certain constitutional amendments (notably the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth) be excluded from the criminal trial. Exceptions to the exclusionary rule have been recognized in cases in which (1) the police acted in good faith but nonetheless violated the Constitution and (2) the prosecutor sought to impeach a witness at trial by pointing to contradictions in his or her out-of-court statements, even if such statements were obtained in an
It is difficult to hold prosecutors accountable for acts of misconduct. Since prosecutors are often viewed as the “good guys” by the public, many times unethical, as well as illegal acts will be tolerated by the courts and criminal justice system as a whole. Prosecutorial misconduct is considered any action taken by the prosecutor in a criminal case that is against the law and/or unethical. Prosecutorial evidence can be anything from harassing witnesses on the stand, pressing unfounded charges against defendants, tampering with evidence, withholding evidence, up to taking bribes. Prosecutors can sometimes get away with misconduct as it is extremely difficult to prove that misconduct had actually taken place.
Discuss the reliability of information gained from interviewing suspects [15 marks] Interviewing suspects can have be reliable and unreliable in terms of the information gained from the interview. One way in which interviewing suspects can gain unreliable information is through false confessions. For example, in using Inbau’s nine steps of interrogation a tense atmosphere is caused e.g direct confrontation and interrupting any attempt of denial from the suspect creates a stressful environment. Therefore this may lead to false confessions from the suspect in order to escape the stress of the interrogation rather than an actual admission of guilt. This is an example of how interviewing suspects can lead to unreliable information because this interview can lead to false or real confessions dependent on the individual.
According to the Legal Resource Library, “The biggest drawback to plea bargaining is for the innocent defendant who decides to plead guilty to a lesser charge in order to avoid the risk that he or she will be found guilty at trial.” Plea bargaining requires the defendant to waive three rights that he/she is normally protected by until the Fifth and Sixth Amendments: the right to a jury trial, the right against self-incrimination, and the right to confront hostile witnesses. (Cornell.edu) Some people may try to argue that plea bargaining in unconstitutional, however, this argument has been repeatedly overruled by the Supreme Court. There are a lot of controversial issues surrounding plea bargaining, and victims’ rights groups are arguing that the victim should have inputs and a voice into the bargain that is being established between the prosecutor and the defendant. Victim rights activists also feel that defendants undermine the criminal justice system in its entirety and defendants are let off too
The 15 marker for crime was by far the one that threw everyone off, including myself. "Explain the tension between community interests and individual rights and freedoms within the criminal justice system." My argument was a little weak but I talked about; -police powers and their investigation process - also how inadmissible evidence of DNA could hinder ones freedoms (I used a statistic) and also how police may abuse their discretionary powers - eg. keep the accused in interrogation for more than 4 hrs without the court-approved extension of 8 hrs -also the criminal trial process - the perceived success of the adversary system where both parties present their oral arguments - but still the fact that the individual is deprived of inequity of distribution of skills, resources and knowledges - I underpinned my contemporary case R v.
The police first need to talk with the judge, show evidence that proves the possibility of find evidence, defined specifically where they will look for proof in order to get a warrant. Furthermore, another example of the problems that are treated in the bill of rights is similarly show in the movie “ Dirty Harry “ too, when the inspector Callahan start to hit the criminal instead of read him his Miranda rights. Related with the 6th amendment “The Miranda rights need to be spoken by a law enforcement official to an individual who is a criminal suspect and in police custody before they begin to question the individual about the circumstances surrounding the crime” (Law Info) This is important because to incriminate evidence admissible in a trial , the police need to provide the suspect with his or her Miranda warnings prior to obtaining the
The precise location of the crime and the map of the relationship between the places in which a series of offences took place, may relate to where the offender is living and to his past experience. Forensics are important when making a profile. For example if a rapist has been questioned previously by the police, their crimes may leave indications of this, this can be shown by some rapists who make their victims bathe to get rid of forensic evidence, so a check of police records is always worthwhile. According to Boon and Davies (1992) Canter and his colleagues identified five aspects of criminal behaviour which is very significant and revealing; the location, criminal biography, personal characteristics, domestic and social characteristics and occupational history. Another important aspect is geography, where criminals may feel comfortable committing the crime.
In high profile cases, the jurors may be put up in hotels, so that they are secluded from contact with other people. Encouraging a witness to lie under oath is known as “subomation of perjury” and this is a serious crime as well (Lawyer.com). Jury tampering includes: * Discussing the case outside if court * Offering monetary bribes in exchange for their vote * Making threats against the juror on their family members * Asking another person to intercede with a juror A person may be found guilty of jury tampering if they intended to influence the juror votes or opinions in a criminal case. Juror themselves can be charged with jury tampering if they participate in the crime if they don’t report it. The result of could be a false verdict or a mistrial, both of which could be very costly to the legal system and delay the trial for sometimes (Jury Tampering Law & legal Definition).