This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Seven Seals: Out of curiosity: how legal is this in real life? I'd imagine some lies would qualify as obtaining a confession under duress, which a lawyer could have a field day with.
BT The P: According to legal precedent in many states, it's legal to use deception to obtain a confession or evidence from a suspect. That's distinct from coercion, where there's a real physical threat involved. Of course, the court precedents that set the standard result from lawyers appealing convictions based on deception, so it's legal where they had their "field day" and lost.
Fast Eddie: Pulled ...
- In Silent Witness, once Professor Dalton launched into a long monologue about dog livers being better for time of death determination, get the confession, then admitted he'd been lying the whole time.
Silent Hunter: That should read "got the confession". He did it to a perp and got her to admit responsibility for a murder.
Keith: Note on the real-life situation. I think the generally accepted rule is that the police can use deception except when it involves a promise of something. That's why you'll see statements like "If you talk, the DA will take it into account" rather than "Talk and you'll only get probation". In the former the DA can argue "Yes, I did take the confession into account...and I don't care."
Artful: In the first real-life example given, I was questioned about being part of a drug ring. The police actually lied several times:
The day before, they called me and informed me that I was a witness to a automotive accident in a different city. I asked them if this was ruse to question me about something else. They denied it, so I told them I hadn't witnessed anything and hung up.
The next day, they came to roust me from my place. When I asked what they really wanted to question me about, they first said they didn't want to embarrass me in front of my roommates, then said they wanted to ask me about prostitution. I said I hadn't ever been with a prostitute, but I agreed to go with them.
I was driven over by the good cop so they wouldn't find some excuse to impound my car. I said this should be fun, and he agreed that he hoped I had a good time.
First thing in the interrogation room, the bad cop said I had better be truthful or he would break my nose. I responded that I truthfully didn't know anything.
They told me that a police agent had spotted me entering a known prostitution lair. I responded that he had in fact not since I had never been to that place.
They claimed that they didn't think prostitution was all that bad. I gave them a short lecture on its social ills.
They told me a jury would believe them over me. I agreed that a jury probably would, but that didn't mean that they were right.
The good cop told me I wasn't afraid of the bad cop, so I must be guilty. I responded that I knew the bad cop wouldn't do anything since my roommate knew his name, so there was no reason to be afraid.
They claimed to know I was carrying hundreds of dollars in cash. I responded that I had never carried that much cash in the past year. (This is when I figured out they were asking about a drug ring.)
The cop poked his head in the room and said that someone had identified me. I had to call him on it, since it was the most ridiculous lie they had told me all day.
They brought in the agent who identified me. I told him to his face that he was mistaken.
They told me that they were going to give me a lie detector test. I told them to go ahead.
The told me they were going to lock me up overnight, and that it wouldn't be fun. I agreed it wouldn't, but it wouldn't change the fact I didn't know anything.
They told that they were just doing their jobs, and didn't I appreciate how hard it was on them to not get answered? I came back and asked them if they understood how hard it was to be repeatedly accused of something I hadn't done.
They asked, respectfully, could they search my car and my computer? I answered, respectfully, no.
They took me home and (reverse psychology) ordered me not to contact the woman. I told them, since I didn't know her, that would be easy.
They told me I had wasted their time by lying. I responded they had wasted their own time by questioning me.
