NCJ Number
167957
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology Volume: 86 Issue: 2 Dated: (Winter 1996) Pages: 266-303
Date Published
1996
Length
38 pages
Annotation
This article describes and analyzes the characteristics, context and outcome of interrogation and confession in ordinary criminal cases that are not likely to be included in the published record on appeal.
Abstract
The article notes the disparity between how law is written and how it is practiced. This study attempts to narrow the gap by providing quantitative data from more than 500 hours of fieldwork inside the Criminal Investigation Division of a major urban police department. The fieldwork included observation of 122 interrogations involving 45 detectives and viewing 60 videotaped interrogations. The primary goal during police interrogation is to gather enough incriminating evidence to convince the prosecutor to file criminal charges. All observed suspects who were entitled to a Miranda warning were read their rights verbatim from a printed form; 22 percent exercised their right to terminate police questioning, while 78 percent waived their Miranda rights. The article discusses the relationship between Miranda and sentence severity, the effect of interrogation tactics and the effect of confessions on case processing. Notes, tables