4.4.7 Deception

• Library: Criminal Procedure in Practice (ABA) (2018 Ed.)

4.4.7 Deception

Deception alone will not often render a confession invalid. Overstatement of the strength of the case against the defendant is not itself usually seen as coercion. The confession will not be considered inadmissible against the defendant unless the deception is extreme and relates specifically to the prosecution process. All sorts of lies concerning the investigator's case are permitted. As one court put the matter, "Misleading a suspect about the existence or strength of evidence against him does not by itself make a statement involuntary."⁵⁴ False statements have been allowed about the outcome of a polygraph examination,⁵⁵ a confession by a codefendant,⁵⁶ and laboratory test results.⁵⁷

Where, however, officers have misled the defendant concerning the manner in which she is to be prosecuted, the courts have been far more inclined to find a resulting confession involuntary.⁵⁸ The following false statements have not been allowed: an assurance that the defendant would not go to jail if he confessed,⁵⁹ a promise that the defendant would not be charged with a particular crime,⁶⁰ a remark that the defendant was not the focus of the investigation,⁶¹ and a statement that if the defendant did not talk she would be convicted and might not ever...