Interrogative Susceptibility

Laura Nirider, Deborah Davis & Richard A. Leo

No rational person would confess to a crime he did not commit, absent torture, mental illness or weakness, right? Wrong. Just in recent years, more than 500 people have provided proven false confessions–most of these in homicide and rape cases–and nearly all were obtained solely via psychological (as opposed to physical) coercion. 

In order to help legal professionals and proffered experts discern a valid confession from a false, manipulated one, this chapter on Interrogative Susceptibility guides the reader through the social scientific literature, identifies common tactics used to inhibit expert testimony challenging the validity of a confession and provides sample voir dire questions of experts. Particular topics include: 

Common challenges to the admission of expert testimony and how to rebut them

Inability of jurors to properly value coercive interrogation tactics 

Choosing a qualified expert

Inability of other safeguards, such as cross examination, jury instructions and Miranda warnings, to mitigate false confessions 

Understanding the need for expertise in interrogations and confessions 

The fallacy of “common knowledge” regarding false confessions 

 Information not provided to the jury absent expertise 

Inability of jurors to properly value suspect suggestibility and vulnerability 

Qualifications of an interrogative suggestibility forensic expert 

With a thorough literature review and numerous citations to cases involving false confessions, the Interrogative Susceptibility chapter is an invaluable resource for litigators, judges and experts when faced with the possibility of a coerced confession.