Another false conviction finally reversed

[nancylebov]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/13/us/california-dna-exoneration-ricky-davis/index.html

This kind of thing is why I'm opposed to bad practice in the justice system. Racism isn't the only problem, though racism amplifies bad practice.

"The case went cold until 1999, when investigators reopened the case. Police interrogated Davis' girlfriend several times and she ultimately changed her story, implicating Davis and herself in Hylton's death, the NCIP said."

Excessive interrogation and plea deals are part of the problem.

Comments

[madfilkentist]

Definitely. I wonder what kind of pressure the police used to get the girlfriend to give false testimony. They aren't allowed to use thumbscrews any more, but other techniques work just as well and don't leave visible marks.

[moon_custafer]

There was a study https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2011-14962-007 published a while back, in which a minor accident (a computer crash or something) was staged by the experimenters, and then subjects who’d been in the room at the time were questioned, using standard police interrogation techniques, about whether they’d done anything to cause it. Not only did they quite often confess despite being innocent, telling them that security-camera footage of the incident would be reviewed made them more likely to confess. The experimenters speculated that innocent suspects, when told there’s new evidence about to be reviewed, become more likely to give in to the temptation to capitulate in order to end the grilling, because they figure it’s safe to do so now there’s evidence that will exonerate them later. Except of course quite often they’re being lied to about the “new evidence,” or it does exist but once a confession is produced there’s no need to bother reviewing it.