Police Coercion: A Case Study Case Study by Nicky

Police Coercion: A Case Study
A case study of police coercion with a minor convicted of first-degree murder.
# 151496 | 1,536 words | 4 sources | APA | 2012 | US
Published on Jun 11, 2012 in Law (Criminal) , Criminology (General)


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Description:

The paper describes the case of a minor, John Smith, and the deception of a police officer who makes an indirect connection between Smith's refusal to talk and his vulnerability to the death penalty. The paper explains the psychological impact of this deception by the officer that would provoke a voluntary confession from Smith. The paper considers the problems in seeking a defense based on this coercion, due to the fact that deception itself is not an illegal act on the part of the officer and does not constitute a cause of the inadmissibility of evidence, and, the confession was of a voluntary nature and the officer confirmed verbally that this confession was voluntary. The paper then suggests how to best present a defense for Smith on the point of police coercion.

From the Paper:

This would significantly limit that which may be characterized as police coercion in the realm of psychological manipulation and trickery such as was clearly committed here. The fact that this clearly intimidated Smith probably doesn't qualify as an overwhelming force. But there may be an exception of use to those charged with the difficult task of seeing Smith's confession ruled as inadmissible. That is to say that the semantic nature of this threat--which was a fundamental and borderline explicit distortion of the legal rights of the accused--may make it 'extrinsic' to the case. According to DiPietro (1993) "trickery that introduces extrinsic considerations is far more likely to invalidate a confession. For example, in Lynumn v. Illinois,(13) police told a female suspect that she was in jeopardy of losing welfare benefits and custody of her children, but offered to recommend leniency if she would confess. The court ruled that the police impaired her free choice by going beyond the evidence connecting her to the crime and introducing a completely extrinsic consideration in the form of an empty but plausible threat to take away something to which she and her children would otherwise be entitled." (DiPietro, 1)

Sample of Sources Used:

  • DiPietro, A.L. (1993). Lies, promises, or threats: the voluntariness of confessions - interrogative techniques by police. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. Online at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2194/is_n7_v62/ai_14234506/
  • Gideon, B. (2008). When Does Police Coercion Make a Confession Involuntary? A Public Defender. Online at http://apublicdefender.com/2008/12/25/when-does-police-coercion-make-a-confession-involuntary/
  • McKibben, C. (2006). Use of Lies to Obtain the Truth: The Police Can Lie To You. Criminal Attorney News. Online at http://www.criminalattorney.com/news/police-can-lie-to-you/
  • Moushey, B. (2006). False Confessions: Coercion Often Leads to False Confessions. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Online at http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06243/717790-84.stm

Cite this Case Study:

APA Format

Police Coercion: A Case Study (2012, June 11) Retrieved June 07, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/case-study/police-coercion-a-case-study-151496/

MLA Format

"Police Coercion: A Case Study" 11 June 2012. Web. 07 June. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/case-study/police-coercion-a-case-study-151496/>

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