Contaminated confessions Project 2022

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Contaminated confessions
Name of University

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Introduction
Jeffrey Deskovic, 16 years old, was charged with murder and rape of a 15-year-old girl in
New York in 1991. She was attacked and brutally raped and then strangled. Deskovic became a
suspect because he was a sophomore at the same school and was late to school the next day of
the crime. The police became suspicious as he was overly distressed at the victim’s death and
was eager to help with the investigations. Deskovic’s investigation went on for a year and
comprised of extensive questioning by detectives and polygraph sessions with no lawyer or
parent present. DNA testing showed that he was not connected in anyways to the victim’s rape
kit. Still, Deskovic was convicted by a jury of rape and murder in 1991. It was in 2006 that
Deskovic was released from prison on the grounds of actual innocence after the Innocence
Project.
Deskovic conviction and exoneration
Deskovic conviction is based entirely on a confession that he allegedly made in police
custody after spending hours with them. He had no access to attorneys and his parents as he was
questioned for hours repeatedly. He underwent a polygraph exam for at least six hours. He was
just a confused, scared teenager who had little idea of how criminal investigations were carried
out. The Innocence Project points to the injustice of Jeff Deskovic’s case and draws attention to
the loopholes in the criminal law system and the reforms needed regarding the confessions.
Deskovic’s supposedly voluntary confession was the only evidence that linked him to the
crime. Later in 2006, the FBI database of DNA profiles excluded Deskovic but matched Steven
Cunningham, who was already in prison on other charges. Cunningham came forward and
confessed and pleaded guilty (Garrett 2017). But by now, Deskovic had spent 16 years in prison.
Exoneration cases such as Deskovic’s draw attention to the accuracy of the criminal system of
the U.S. Supreme Court. There are many other cases that have brought to light the presence of

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false confessions and how they can get contaminated over the interrogations process. What went
wrong with Deskovic is a classic case of false and contaminate confessions.
There are plenty of cases of a contaminated false confession that have often been
puzzling as to what makes innocent people confess to a crime they did not commit. There is a
new awareness among the police, legislators, judges, and scholars that innocent people often
confess during police investigations because of the psychological pressures. When 20 cases of
DNA exoneration were examined, about 16% of them involved false confessions (Garrett 2017).
Wrongful convictions are having been there for several years and are not a new phenomenon.
And many of them have involved false or coerced confessions.
Miranda procedures
The U.S constitution regulates confession systems based on the prerequisite of
voluntariness and the Miranda warnings (Garrett 2017). Under the Miranda procedures, the
exonerees waived off their Miranda rights when they signed those waiver forms. Deskovic must
have been just a confused, scared teenager who had little idea of how criminal investigations
were carried out. It is evident when he was taken to the police headquarters for the first time; the
detective asked him if he wanted a layer and informed him that he had a right to stay silent.
When the detective asked him if he understood his rights, he simply nodded and signed the card
to show his willingness to answer the questions without any attorney (Garrett 2017). Recordings
were made as Deskovic waived off his rights.
Recording of the interrogations
Deskovic’s conversations with the police were recorded, and it is interesting to note that
the tape was on when his Miranda rights were read but not when he was confronted by the
detectives aggressively (Garrett 2017). It is essential to focus on the recording of those

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interrogations. In most cases, there are only partial recordings, and only the final recording of the
confession is there. However, what went on before that is missing (Garrett 2017). Hence, there is
little idea about the long periods of interrogations before the final confession made by Deskovic.
The Reid techniques
The police are trained on how to question a suspect by asking him open-ended questions
and use psychological tactics to elicit information. The police confront the suspect with an
attitude that he is the culprit. The Reid techniques followed by the investigating officers are
based on “maximization” and “minimization” (Garrett 2017). The police are lenient with the
suspect and lure him into believing that he has something to gain by confession. Sometimes, they
use deceptions to misguide the suspect into believing in something. Although those tactics are
seen to be permissible by the courts, The Reid manual also guides the police on how and why to
not to contaminate a case or the confessions. They are not supposed to leak any vital information
related to the case (Garrett 2017).
Deskovic is clearly a victim of coerced -compliant confession where the tactics followed
by the police are not considered to be wrong or illegal by the justice system (Garrett 2017).
However, the suspect may crumble under pressure and say what the police want to hear, as he
can no longer bear the stress and pressure and simply wants the interrogation to end.
In Deskovic’s case, he was just a teenager who believed in the criminal system and was
fearful for his safety. U.S supreme court demands that the confessions statements from the
accused must be voluntary. Although, in this case, police had used passive tactics to get an active
and voluntary confession, the judge found those tactics lawful.
Accurate details and facts

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It is essential to pay attention to the inconsistent facts provided during the interrogations.
Those different facts should be seen as a warning sign of a contaminated confession (Garrett
2017). Many times, the suspect gave inconsistent facts, but the police knew that if they were
persistent with their tactics, they could get him or her to confess to the crime. The prosecutors
often downplay those inconsistencies and try to draw the attention of the jury to other facts of the
case. According to the detectives, Deskovic gave details and explanations, which were not
possible if he was not the culprit. His supposedly accurate diagrams of the crime scene, use of
specific notations, and failure of the polygraph test supposedly led the police to believe that he
was the preparator of the crime. The detective had told Deskovic that he failed the polygraph test
just to get a confession from him. Those weeks and hours of interrogation took a toll on the
helpless teenager who only thought that he was helping the police.
DNA testing
Another problem was the ignorance of the fact that the DNA of the victim’s rape kit did
not match Deskovic. The district attorney requested the jury to ignore the compelling scientific
evidence as the victim was possibly sexually active (Garrett 2017). The police often end the
interrogations once they believe that they have a confession. In many cases, forensic testing was
ignored simply because the police now had that confession. Despite the forensic evidence that
would be convincing proof of innocence, the police tend to emphasize on the confessions
(Garrett 2017). The courts should not ignore the forensics testing and must use the biological
evidence instead of just focusing on the confession.
Presentation of the case
The court and the law see a confession as the most potent piece of evidence. Still,
Deskovic’s case shows how easy it is to contaminate those confessions. It is the manner of

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investigations and how the police try to get details from the suspect. In most of these cases, the
police assert their point that they do not try to contaminate the case by asking leading questions
but allow the suspect to provide the details. The confessions then look voluntary and made
appropriate for the judges and jury, who have little choice but to believe in those persuasive and
detailed confessions that seem believable but are contaminated (Garrett 2017). What goes wrong
in those cases is how the police present the case to the jury and state as to how the information
was provided freely by the suspect, and the detailed information could not have been known to
him if he was not the perpetrator. They ignore to explain the method of questioning as to how the
suspect had unwillingly nodded in agreement to many of those series of leading questions
(Garrett 2017).
When the judicial review of those false confessions is examined, it is easy to understand
as to why the judges and the jury do not reject them (Garrett 2017). It is because the confessions
are presented with detailed accuracy and without any inconsistencies. There are no grounds on
which the judges and the jury can question the reliability of those confessions. It is the apparent
dependability of those confessions that are a possibility as to why courts, judges, and the jury
overlook the possibility of contamination. The judges fail to understand as to why a suspect
would confess wrongly to a crime that he did not commit. Very few of the exonerated had
defense experts such as psychologists who can support or question their confessions (Garrett
2017).
The judges examine if the confession was voluntary or coercive before the trial and
whether it should be admitted (Garrett 2017). Studies and cases show that courts take into
consideration the age factor to judge the voluntariness. Thus, the youth aspect, the level of
intelligence, lack of awareness of constitutional rights, and length of detention are often

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examined by the courts to judge if a confession was voluntary. Deprivation food or sleep or any
physical punishment can be another factor. The judges also consider the demeanor of the
defendant during the interrogations (Garrett 2017). In Deskovic’s case, there was no psychiatric
evidence used to prove the validity of his confession. Any such evidence must have provoked the
judge and jury to think about his confession and how he might have been vulnerable to the harsh
police investigations as a teenager. He was young, not aware of his legal rights, and was detained
for hours of interrogations without food. Thus, it is easy to see as to how and why his
confessions were contaminated.
Need of Judicial reforms
Judicial reforms are much required so as to rule out the possibility of any contamination
of the confessions presented in the court. The legal scholars have long prosed that the
interrogations should not just focus on the Miranda warnings or voluntariness (Garrett 2017).
Although contaminated confessions are not easy to detect, specific steps can be taken to prevent
those contaminations. For example, the police interrogations should be made mandatory from the
very start to finish. Recorded interrogations can point out if the confessions were contaminated
or voluntary (Garrett 2017). Whatever goes on in the interrogations room should be recorded,
documented, and reviewed. Forensic evidence should not be ignored.
In Deskovic’s case, there are two possible scenarios that possibly led to the
contamination of the case and corruption of the confession. Either the police deliberately
communicated the infixation related to the crime to Deskovic or Deskovic gained the supposedly
secret information that got possibly leaked out due to police questioning and investigations
within the community (Garrett 2017). When many such cases similar to Deskovic are examined,
it is apparent that the police contaminated the case by disclosing certain facts to the suspect.

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However, at the trial and under oath, the police deny that they disclosed any details and state that
the suspect had made a voluntary confusion.
Cases that involve confessions should be scrutinized for their contamination. The police
utilize many tactics when extracting confessions. Deskovic confessed perhaps in the belief that
all would end soon. Forensic evidence was sidelined entirely in his case. Particular caution must
be exercised when the police are investigating the youth and the vulnerable. The courts should
investigate the authenticity of a confession and look for any signs of contamination. The
illumination of the possible reasons behind wrongful convictions due to contaminated
confessions asks for law reform measures and greater awareness among the police, courts, and
the judiciary system. The common public should also get aware of their legal rights and how to
avoid getting into the trap of making any false confessions.

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References
Garrett, Brandon L. 2017. “Coveting the Innocent.” Harvard University Press 1(1):14-44.