It’s worth knowing that not everyone who confesses is guilty. There are at least three other reasons why someone might confess to a crime.
It’s worth knowing that not everyone who confesses is guilty. There are at least three other reasons why someone might confess to a crime.
We were just talking about this the other day in regards to the Edward Lee Elmore case. http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/07/us/death-row-stories-elmore/
“Elmore agreed to a deal with prosecutors that allowed him to maintain his innocence while pleading guilty. In exchange for pleading guilty to murder, the state dropped a burglary charge and agreed to a 30-year sentence with credit for time served.”
So, although he was innocent, he plead guilty in exchange for his freedom. That kept him from going after the state afterwards as well. It’s a horrible situation.
We’re teaching Anatomy of a Murder next year as part of a Freshman program. We are also discussing the Brenton Butler case where it was clear that the “confession” was written by the detectives and signed by 15 year old Breton under cohersion and without a lawyer or parent present. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenton_Butler_case
Shady dealings. Thanks for the link. I think I’ll share it with some of the other instructors.
We were just talking about this the other day in regards to the Edward Lee Elmore case. http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/07/us/death-row-stories-elmore/
“Elmore agreed to a deal with prosecutors that allowed him to maintain his innocence while pleading guilty. In exchange for pleading guilty to murder, the state dropped a burglary charge and agreed to a 30-year sentence with credit for time served.”
So, although he was innocent, he plead guilty in exchange for his freedom. That kept him from going after the state afterwards as well. It’s a horrible situation.
We’re teaching Anatomy of a Murder next year as part of a Freshman program. We are also discussing the Brenton Butler case where it was clear that the “confession” was written by the detectives and signed by 15 year old Breton under cohersion and without a lawyer or parent present. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenton_Butler_case
Shady dealings. Thanks for the link. I think I’ll share it with some of the other instructors.
Not to mention confessing to draw attention away from someone else. If the person believes a loved one committed the crime, they will likely confess to sacrifice themselves and save the loved one. It doesn’t even matter whether the loved one is actually guilty, as long as the person confessing believes they are, strongly enough.
They may also be drawing attention away from someone else for other reasons. If they are old or dying and the person who actually committed the crime is young, they might wish to give their live for them.
Another possibility is that by confessing to a minor crime, it can prevent an investigation that would expose greater crimes. Once police have the “guilty” party, they usually stop looking. Or similarly it could protect the real criminal, who is blackmailing the confessor, or otherwise would cause more harm to the confessor if punished for their crime.
Not to mention confessing to draw attention away from someone else. If the person believes a loved one committed the crime, they will likely confess to sacrifice themselves and save the loved one. It doesn’t even matter whether the loved one is actually guilty, as long as the person confessing believes they are, strongly enough.
They may also be drawing attention away from someone else for other reasons. If they are old or dying and the person who actually committed the crime is young, they might wish to give their live for them.
Another possibility is that by confessing to a minor crime, it can prevent an investigation that would expose greater crimes. Once police have the “guilty” party, they usually stop looking. Or similarly it could protect the real criminal, who is blackmailing the confessor, or otherwise would cause more harm to the confessor if punished for their crime.