1. Criminal Procedure and Evidence
Leeds Law School
Criminal Procedure and Evidence
Police Station Interviews & Confessions

2. The Need for Confessions
The vast majority of criminal offenders are reluctant to confess and must be psychologically persuaded to do so, and unavoidably by interrogation procedures involving elements of trickery or deceit. The legality of such procedures is well established
Inbau, Reid and Buckley (1986)

3. R v. Ibrahim [1914] AC 599
“It has long been established as a positive rule of English criminal law, that no statement by an accused is admissible in evidence against him unless it is shown by the prosecution to have been a voluntary statement, in the sense that it has not been obtained by either fear of prejudice or hope of advantage held out by a person in authority” (The Judges Rules)

4. Police Interviews The Most Critical Stage of the Investigation
Baldwin J. (1994) Police Interrogations
What are the Rule of the game?
In; The Right to Silence in Criminal Investigations
Morgan D. Stephenson G. (eds)

5. Police Attitude to Suspects
Motson Stevenson and Williams
The Effects of case Characteristics on Suspect behaviour
Paper Presented to BPS annual conference Cardiff, April 1990

6. Police Attitude to Suspects
Ainsworth (1995a); Vrij (1998a)
Failure to obtain confession interpreted as shrewdness on the part of the suspect (especially where suspect is convicted criminal)
Suspects anger interpreted as fear of discovery

7. Police Attitude to Suspects
PACE 1984 contributed to a reduction in oppressive interviewing
This did not alter the mindset of many officers towards suspects
Research indicates that attitude assuming guilt of suspect actually reduces effectiveness on interview

8. Attitudes and Tactics Baldwin (1993); Moston (1995)
Pearse and Gudjonsson (1996)
Shepherd (1993)
Suggest police are often unprepared when it comes to conducting interviews and behave in ineffectual ways

9. Attitudes and Tactics Ekman and O’Sullivan (1989)
Officers often react to the wrong clues when deciding on whether a suspect is telling the truth
Such as appearance or clothing

10. Requirements of PACE
‘The questioning of a person with regard to his involvement or suspected involvement in a criminal offence which, under Para of Code C must be carried out under Caution’ (Code C 11.1A)
Following a decision to arrest a suspect must not be interviewed about the relevant offence except at a police station (Code 11.1)

11. Investigation Strategies
A Police interview in the United Kingdom is a “search for the truth with an emphasis on open mindedness”
Sear and Williamson (1999) British and American Interrogation Strategies
In; Interviewing and Deception
Canter D. Alison L. (eds)

12. Investigative Strategies
Royal Commission on Criminal Justice
Home Office Circular 22/1992 and 7/1993 “The Ethics of Police Interviewing”
Establishes Ethical Foundation for Police Questioning

13. Attitudes and Rules
Police attitudes to detained interpreted by criminologists as pejorative and negative
Open Minded Search for Truth?
Contradicted by PACE
Officers need reasonable suspicion of guilt in order to justify Stop and Search, Arrest and Detention

14. Attitudes and Strategies
Open Minded approach at odds with the Adversarial System of Criminal Justice
The Police are on the Prosecution Team
Coercive interviewing discouraged
Information gathering?
Pressure to confess?

15. The US Model In contrast to the UK ‘search for the truth’
Police Officers in the US may engage in coercive interviewing and deception
‘Criminals do not have the monopoly on lying’
Deceptive Interviewing compatible with rules on entrapment (Leo 1992, Skolnick 1982)

16. The US Model Frazier v. Cupp (1969)
Murder suspect told falsely that an accomplice had confessed
This misrepresentation had not rendered the subsequent confession inadmissible
People v. Payton (1984) ‘Gross and intentional trickery may induce confession’

17. Reid Training Manual
“If the defendant believes the police representations to be true, how logically can it matter whether those representations were true or not when a court determines whether that confession was voluntarily made”
Steigmann J. People v. Payton (1984)

18. Reid Training Manual
WE WILL SAY OR DO NOTHING THAT WOULD CAUSE AN INNOCENT PERSON TO CONFESS TO SOMETHING THAT THEY DID NOT DO
Inbau, Reid and Buckley (1986)

19. US and Due Process
American Legal Philosophy asserts that deception is safe at the interview stage
As subjection to due process in court will discover any flaws in the evidence
Confessions must be supported by corroborative evidence (circumstantial will suffice)

20. R v. Mason (1988) 86 Cr.App R 349 Arson - Petrol Bomb
Forensic “evidence” found at scene?
Court of Appeal rules that evidence obtained after officer lied about suspects fingerprints being found is inadmissible

21. R v. Tyrer (1989) 90 Cr.App.R 446
Suspect told her children were alone at home while she was in custody
Confessed to shoplifting
Confession allowed
She had no answers to the evidence she had been presented with at interview
Worry about the children did not prompt the confession

22. PACE 1984 s.78
(1) In any proceedings the court may refuse to allow evidence on which the prosecution proposes to rely to be given if it appears to the court…
The admission of the evidence would have such an adverse effect on the fairness of the proceedings that the court should not admit it (Prejudicial Effect v. Probative Value)

23. Problems with Coercion
Interrogative Suggestibility...
Coerced Internalised Confessions
Low Intelligence increases interrogative suggestibility
Gudjonsson (1984a)

24. Interrogative Suggestibility
Low Intelligence
High Anxiety
High Emotionality
High Social Desirability
Low Self Esteem
Lack of Assertiveness

25. Is PACE a Safeguard? Section 76(2)
Judicial discretion forbids the admission before a court of confessions extracted by:
Oppression
As a consequence of anything said or done

26. Is PACE a Safeguard? Code C at Part 1 (1.4)
Requires Police officers conducting interviews to provide the suspect to be assisted by an appropriate adult if the officers have any suspicion that the person to be questioned is mentally disordered or retarded

27. Avoiding False Confessions
Gudjonsson suggests raising police awareness of the personality characteristics that might underlie false confessions
Also advocates greater emphasis on the effects of interrogation strategies on suspects answers to questions

28. Avoiding False Confessions
Memon, Vrij and Bull (1998)
Suggest that solicitors receive similar training so that they can better assist clients who may be vulnerable to making false confessions

29. Avoiding False Confessions
There must of course be caution applied in all confession situations and it must be understood that by far the majority of confessions are actually true
It is nearly impossible to determine that a confession was in fact false simply because it has been retracted

30. Solicitors at Police Interviews
Law Society Guidelines describe the purpose of solicitors attendance at Police Stations
Advice to Clients (Fairness)
Advice as to weight of evidence
Advantages of Admitting Guilt

31. ‘Quality Control’ Quality interviews lead to safe convictions
All interviews are taped under the requirements of s.60 PACE and video taping interviews is becoming more common
However few interviews are monitored by either senior police officers or the judiciary
Unless something goes wrong!

32. Witness Statements Closed questions...
What colour was the attackers shirt?
Requires short concise answer
Open Questions...
Describe the attackers clothing
More detail

33. Witness Statements
Closed questions (interviewer led) may lead to discrepancies
Discrepancies that the defence may use to undermine credibility
Form MG11 (Section 9 CJA 1969; MCA 1980)
Offence to give misleading information on police statement