How Do Authorities Deal With False Confessions?
False confessions are very common. People who give out false confessions do not necessarily mean to fool police, but rather they may be confused, angry, tired, or want to leave the room. They could have psychiatric problems and believe they actually committed a crime, or they may have dreamt up the crime over and over that they can not recall whether they did it or dreamt it. False confessions occur all the time though they may not make any sense to anybody. Whenever a murder is reported in the media, there are perhaps ten or so people who will come forward and confess to it. Many false confessions are fabricated because criminals think they can distract police from investigating another crime. For instance, a suspect may confess to a carjacking or robbery of a convenience store but have no knowledge about the murder that occurred simultaneously at another location. If guilty of a robbery, the suspect may not be the killer. Similarly, a friend or family member may confess to a crime to
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