Week 2: Interrogation Tactics Flashcards
People v. Mays (2009) context
At about 4:30 AM at a Jack in the Box, a man is shot and killed. Eyewitnesses tentatively identify Darious Mays, 17 years old, as the shooter. Eyewitness’ confidence is low. Another witness says Mays was the brother of the shooter but the retracts their statement and accuses the police of making that up. When questioned, Mays denies involvement and asks for a polygraph (lie detector test). The police give him a fake test. They present fabricated test results indicating that he’s failed the test. At this point, Mays admits he was present although he continues to deny involvement
What did Mays appeal in People v. Mays?
Mays requests that the evidence of his confession be suppressed as involunatry; He claims he lied to the police because he felt defeated after supposedly failing the polygraph test and just said what he thought the police wanted to hear.
What did the court decide about Mays’ appeal?
The court ruled that the confession was not involuntary because Mays requested the polygraph test
*14th Amendment Due Process Clause
prohibits state and local governments from depriving you of life, liberty, or property without due process of law
What does it mean to be “unfairly” tricked?
Documentary evidence was falsified in order to obtain a confession
What is a downside of falsify documents for confessions?
Might erode public trust
Washoe County v. Bessey (1996) context
Nevada case
In a statement to the police, a 14 year old girl accuses a man of performing non-consensual sexual acts on her. Man agrees to go to police station and denies the claim. There is no corroborating evidence of the girl’s claim. Detective asked if thats the case, can he explain why his semen was present at the scene (although it wasn’t)
Man then confesses after he’s presented with a fake document but when it gets to trial he tries to get his confession suppressed.
Nevada case
What did Nevada rule about falsifying documents?
Nevada allows police deception because they believe that you won’t get convictions in cases such as this without this strategy
State v. Cayward (1989) context
Florida case
19 year old male suspected of sexually assaulting and smothering his 5 year old niece. Although the police suspect him, they don’t have evidence to charge him. They fake two reports showing that semen stains found on the niece’s underwear were his. Man then admits that he did this but later claims it as an involuntary confession. Felt he didn’t have a choice when presented with official looking documentation.
Florida case
What did Florida rule about falsifying documents?
Florida established that documentary deception is not permissible. They want police to conduct a thorough investigation.
Examples of “unfairly tricking” that investigators might use
-Claiming to have fingerprints or DNA evidence at the scene of the crime
-Claiming to have video footage of you committing a crime
-Claiming to have a written confession from your partner
-Claiming to have a witness who was at the scene of the crime claiming that a witness identified you in a line up
You CAN’T promise that if you talk, you won’t be prosecuted (not within police authority to make decisions - this is the prosecutor’s job). This would render a confession inadmissible.
