End the Use of Deception During Interrogations in New York
Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise and Yusef Salaam at the Innocence Project gala in May 2019. Photo by Matthew Adam Photography.
The Exonerated Five were just boys when they were arrested for the brutal attack on a jogger in Central Park in 1989 and coerced into falsely confessing. During their interrogations, detectives lied to them about their fingerprints matching crime scene evidence and falsely told each of them that the others had confessed and implicated them in the attack, ultimately securing false admissions that sent them to prison for 13 years for a crime they did not commit.
It may be hard to believe, but back then and still now, the use of deceptive tactics in the interrogation room is completely legal. Police can legally lie to suspects about the presence of all types of evidence for the purpose of leveraging them into confessing. We’ve known for a long time now that this has devastating consequences — 43 innocent New Yorkers have been exonerated after falsely confessing to serious crimes. 80% of those people are people of color. This year, New York lawmakers have the opportunity to end this practice to prevent more wrongful convictions.
Sign up in the form above to support passing S. 324A/A. 6570 to end the use of deception in interrogations in New York.