Social (Test 5)

The Richard Anthony Jones Case and Lineup Construction

Richard Anthony Jones (The Doppelgänger Case): * Richard Anthony Jones was a man wrongly incarcerated in a case out of Kansas City. * The case is famously known as the "Doppelgänger case" because of the extreme similarity between Jones and the actual perpetrator. * The description of the suspect was a light-skinned African American or possibly Latino male with his hair pulled back. * Jones was eventually released after the witness retracted her statement and it was determined there was not enough evidence to continue holding him.
Lineup Fairness and Construction: * Construction of the lineup is critical. In the case of Richard Anthony Jones, the lineup shown to the witness was considered unfair. * In the specific scan of the lineup shown to the witness, only Richard Anthony Jones matched the description provided (light-skinned African American or Latino male). * The other five men in the photo array were not descriptors of that demographic (one was described as a whitish male). * Legal Implication: If a witness provides a description and is then presented with a lineup where only one person meets that description, the identification is considered suggestive and should arguably never have made it to court.

Eye-Witness Identification Formats and Procedures

Instructions Given to Witnesses: * Most precincts use a variation of the instruction: "The perpetrator may or may not be present." * It is vital to remind witnesses that they have the option to choose "no one." * Research indicates that adding the "may or may not be present" phrase significantly reduces the pressure on a witness to make a choice.
Simultaneous Lineup Format: * Process: This uses a relative process. * Mechanism: The witness is able to compare photos to each other simultaneously to determine which one looks most like the perpetrator relative to the other choices.
Sequential Lineup Format: * Process: This uses an absolute process. * Mechanism: The witness views one photo at a time. They must decide if that photo matches their mental image before moving to the next. They cannot go back to previous photos if they have already said no. * Comparison: While debated in the criminal justice system, the argument for the sequential format is that the identification is informed by the memory match to the photo rather than a comparison between photos.
The Show-up Format: * This is considered the worst format for identification. * Procedure: Generally occurs when police go to the scene of a crime and present one single suspect to a witness for identification. * Risks: Witnesses often say "yes" even when the suspect does not match the original description. * Example Case: A witness described a perpetrator as a short, balding Hispanic male. Police brought a tall, Irish redhead with significant hair. The witness still identified him as the perpetrator, and the man served $12$ years in prison before being exonerated. * Legal Standing: The Supreme Court has recognized that show-ups are inherently suggestive.

Administration of Identification Procedures

Double-Blind Administration: * Definition: A procedure where the person administering the lineup is unaware of who the actual suspect is. * Purpose: This prevents the administrator from intentionally or unintentionally influencing the witness's choice. * State Requirements: Currently, some states like California and New York require double-blind administration for lineups, though many other areas have not yet adopted this protocol.

False Confessions: Prevalence and Vulnerabilities

DNA Exoneration Statistics: * In cases where DNA evidence has 100% proven that a convicted person did not commit the crime, a false confession was present in $25\%$ of those cases (one quarter).
Primary Vulnerabilities: * Age: Minors are dramatically more vulnerable to false confessions. They often lack the cognitive capability to handle complex interrogations and lack the world experience to navigate interactions with authority figures. * Mental Disabilities: Individuals with mental disabilities are at higher risk for coercion.
The Central Park Five Case: * The defendants were aged $14$ , $15$ , and $16$ . * They were interrogated overnight and for several hours. * One parent did not speak English; other parents were told it would hurt their child if they intervened to ask questions. * The children reported being threatened or questioned until they felt they had to confess.
Interrogation Duration: * Any confession obtained after approximately $3\,hours$ is significantly more likely to be a false confession than a true one. * Records exist of interrogations lasting multiple days, with the longest known record being around $39\,hours$ .
Legal Protections: * Recanting a confession does not mean it cannot be used in court. A judge must explicitly bar the confession from evidence, which usually only happens if the interrogation was found to be problematic. * Advice: Always ask for a lawyer. Requesting a lawyer is a constitutional right and cannot be used as evidence of guilt in court.

Types of False Confessions and Police Interrogation Tactics

Types of False Confessions: 1. Compliant False Confessions: The individual confesses without believing they are guilty. This is the most common type and is done to end the interrogation, end the pressure, or because they feel they have no other choice. Factors include exhaustion, stress, and hunger. 2. Internalized False Confessions: The individual is led to believe they actually committed the crime. This often involves a lack of memory (e.g., the person was asleep during the crime) and the presentation of false evidence. * Example (Michael Crow): A $10$ -year-old was interrogated for $12\,hours$ about his sister's murder. Police convinced him he had a second "bad" personality that committed the murder while his "good" side was unaware. He was only exonerated when the real perpetrator was found with bloody clothes and the murder weapon.
Motivations for False Confessions: * Altruism: Confessing to protect a loved one (e.g., a parent confessing to protect a child from prison). * Notoriety: Individuals seeking fame or attention. * Example (The Confession Killer): A man (Henry Lee Lucas) confessed to over $200$ unsolved murders because police treated him positively, taking him for fast food and driving him around. It was later determined he likely only committed three murders.
Police Interrogation Tactics: * Psychological Pressure: Making the suspect feel there is no other choice but to confess. * False Evidence: Telling the suspect their DNA was found at the scene or the murder weapon was found in their home when it wasn't. * Minimization: Downplaying the consequences of the crime to make confession seem like the best path. * Police Overconfidence: Police tend to be overconfident in their ability to detect lies, though research suggests they are often no better than civilians.

The Impact of Confessions on Evidence and Juries

Kassin and Sukel Study: * Participants read a double murder trial and rated the guilt of the defendant. * Levels of Interrogation: 1. No confession ( $17\%$ to $19\%$ guilty rating). 2. Low-pressure interrogation with confession. 3. High-pressure interrogation with confession. * Result: Even in high-pressure situations where jurors recognized the confession might be coerced, the power of a confession remains overwhelming in securing a conviction.
Why Juries Believe False Confessions: 1. Personal Immunity: Jurors believe they would never personally confess to something they didn't do, and thus assume others wouldn't either. 2. Detail/Narrative: Confessions are often detailed stories. Juries respond to details and narratives. However, these details often come from the investigators' questions (e.g., asking "What did you do with the knife?" informs the suspect there was a knife). 3. Corroborating Evidence Bias: A confession can bias other evidence. If an eyewitness, fingerprint analyst, or forensic expert hears there is a confession, they are more likely to find "matches" or identify a suspect due to confirmation bias.

Jury Size, Selection, and Deliberation

Jury Size: * Traditional size is $12$ . * Alternates sit through the trial to replace jurors if needed but do not participate in deliberation. * Florida uses juries of $6$ for non-death penalty cases. * Meta-analysis findings on small juries: They spend less time deliberating and are more likely to reach a unanimous decision quickly.
Jury Selection: * Jury of your peers: This legally means the jury must be representative of the area where the crime occurred, not necessarily peers of the defendant's demographic. * Peremptory Challenges: A set number of challenges where a lawyer can eliminate a juror without providing an explanation. * For Cause Elimination: Eliminating a juror because they cannot be fair due to personal experience (e.g., being a victim of a similar crime).
Pretrial Publicity: * News and social media influence jurors before the trial starts. * Biased Memory: Jurors often forget the source of information, mixing pretrial publicity with evidence presented in court.

Challenges in Jury Understanding and Bias

Jury Instructions: * Often written in technical legalese that jurors do not understand. * The Boomerang Effect: Telling a jury to ignore a statement can sometimes make them more likely to discuss it.
Standards of Proof: * Preponderance of the Evidence: Criteria typically used in civil court; means being "more sure than not" (>50\%) that someone is responsible. * Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: The standard for criminal court. It is intentionally higher than preponderance of the evidence. * Issue: Some juries vote guilty when they are only $52\%$ sure, which technically does not meet the "beyond a reasonable doubt" threshold.
The "Criminal Look" and Bias: * Research shows that a defendant's appearance or social status (e.g., being a high school football star) can impact victim-blaming and guilt ratings. * In a study, mock jurors rated a victim as having more control over their assault when the perpetrator was a football star compared to a normal student.

Sentencing and Judicial Decisions

Judge vs. Jury Sentencing: * In most non-capital cases, sentencing is done by the judge. * Exception: Death penalty cases often involve a two-part trial where the jury decides between life in prison and the death penalty.
Demographic Bias in Sentencing: * A study of $742$ convicted murderers found that trustworthiness ratings of photos influenced sentencing. * Race plays a factor; Hispanic defendants often receive even longer sentences than Black defendants in certain contexts.

Questions & Discussion

Q: Do juries go higher than 12? * A: You will often have alternates who listen to the trial, but only $12$ usually deliberate.
Q: When should show-ups be conducted? * A: They are only supposed to be conducted if police do not have enough probable cause to hold a suspect for a formal lineup.
Q: 10% of participants still backed up the confederate after seeing them take cash? * A: The transcript clarifies the study involved participants seeing someone put cash into their vault/drawer, and the focus was on familiarity and memory fragility.
Q: How do they pick jurors for high-profile crimes (like serial killers)? * A: It is very difficult. They look for people who haven't made up their minds. They may also move the trial to a different location to access a different jury pool.
Q: What defines a "criminal looking" person? * A: Research suggests it aligns with societal norms and expectations. For example, a high school football star might be perceived differently than other students, and this influences how jurors perceive the fault of the victim versus the perpetrator.