Interrogation: Legal and Ethical Issues and Solutions

1. Distinguish between an interview and an interrogation.

An interview is less formal and also non-accusatory, in which the conversation aims at eliciting information whereas an interrogation is formal and accusatory in which it is mainly designed to get a suspect confess.

Another distinction is that an interview entails of an interaction between police officers ad witnesses or victims in an investigation, whereas, in an interrogation, it is an interaction between a suspect and police officers.

The other difference concerns the goals of an interview and an interrogation. An interview aim at gathering information that relates to an investigation, whereas, an interrogation aims at learning the truth about the details of offense from an individual suspected of committing the crime.

Another distinction is that an interview is a flexible and free-flowing interaction, whereas, an interrogation is a tightly structured.

2. Discuss the legal rules and regulations on confession.

The common law confessions rule is that the requirement that the prosecution proves the voluntariness of an accused’s statements to persons in authority.

The principle against self-incrimination is also a rule on confession. It is a very basic norm for a system of criminal justice in a constitutional order that gets committed to human dignity (Inbau, Reid, Buckley & Jayne, 2011). The main idea of the principle is that when the state uses its power to prosecute a person for a criminal offense, the individual ought not to be required to assist the state in the investigation or trial of the offense.

3. Discuss legal issues in the case (e.g., the Miranda Warning)?

One of the legal issues is hiding the DNA forensic results of the suspected individual that did not match with the evidence of DNA found at the crime scene. These results were proof that the suspect was not at the crime scene at the time the murder was occurring.

Another legal issue is that the suspect was not allowed to consult a lawyer yet it was their right to consult an attorney and have them present during the interrogation.

4. Discuss ethical issues in this case (e.g., deceptive techniques in interrogation)?

An ethical issue related to the case is the deceptive technique used by the interrogators so as to get the suspect to confess. The interrogators lied to the suspect that he had failed the polygraph test. Deception techniques used by the police include lying, withholding and manipulating information, enacting sting operations, installing wiretaps and bugging devices, using informants, manufacturing evidence, as well as using the good cop/bad cop routine interrogations (Banks, 2012).

5. Why did they confess the crimes?

The suspects confessed after receiving threats that include the threat of receiving the death penalty unless they confessed and also threats of getting a jail term.

The suspects also confessed due to frustrations and pain associated with intense and lengthy interrogations. The suspects were interrogated for more than 9 hours in which they were worn out both physically and emotionally thus just told the interrogators what they wanted to hear.

The suspects also confessed due to lies by the interrogators that included that the suspects had failed the polygraph test and that they had evidence that they were there during the crime occurrence. These lies somehow made the suspects believe they had committed the crime. The suspects also confessed after the interrogator promised to help the suspect with the case if they confessed.

6. Your feedback and solutions to address issues related to police interrogation as illustrated in this case.

The solutions to ensure a proper police interrogation is to formulate guidelines and rules and regulations for undertaking interrogations. The interrogations must ensure that deceptive procedures do not get incorporated into the procedure. The police interrogators also have to inform a suspect of their Miranda rights during interrogation.

References

Banks, C. (2012). Criminal justice ethics: Theory and practice. Sage Publications.

Inbau, F. E., Reid, J. E., Buckley, J. P., & Jayne, B. C. (2011): Criminal interrogation and confessions. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

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