Why do innocent people confess?

An article on Alternet.org this week considers the reasons innocent people have confessed to crimes they didn’t commit, and discovers a common refrain from exonerees who falsely confess after long police interrogations –  “I just wanted to go home.”

When 16-year-old Korey Wise entered the Central Park Police Precinct at 102nd St on April 20, 1989, he didn't realize what he was walking into. It was the day after one of the most grisly crimes in official New York memory-the brutal sexual assault of a woman who would become known as the Central Park Jogger-and Wise had been asked to come in along with other black and Latino youths who had allegedly been in the park the night before. Wise was taken to the scene of the crime and shown graphic pictures of the woman's injuries, which included a fractured skull. Eventually, his visit to the police station would lead to an interrogation and, after nine hours of questioning, a videotaped confession that was confusing, convoluted, and chilling.

Read the full story here

. (Alternet.org, 10/02/07)

And visit

Alternet.org today

to join a lively discussion on the issue of false confessions and reforms to prevent them.



Read more about reforms that can prevent false confessions

.