2006-01-15

False Accusation...
I happend to watch a documentary featuring a case of false accusation. A man was accused of kidnapping and murder of an one-year old baby. The suspect habitually slept in his own car at a parking lot, and since he was sleeping at the parking lot when the kidnapped baby disappeared from there, he was questioned at a police station. He was asked leading questions then, and threatened by pocie officers and forcefully led to admit to the charges. Afterwards, however, his statement was pointed out to have lacked credibility, and an attorney being charged of the suspect started to cast doubt on the way the police investigated the case. The suspect told the attorney that he admitted to the charges out of fear, and insisted on his innocence. Putting aside the terrible structure of police investigation, why on earth people can easily admit the charges even though they haven't actually done wrong? Can't we firmly insist on our innocence if we are put in extreme situations? What psychological state are they in under those circumstances? I do wish that those falsely accused will be acquitted as soon as possible...