Quote:
|
Originally Posted by ChassisWelder
I don't think its quite so cut and dry.
Should they be able to lie to get a legitimate confession out of someone? Yes. The conditions under which they admit to committing a crime doesn't detract from the crime they've committed.
Should they be able to lie and force a FALSE confession for the sake of finding someone to pass off the blame onto for their own benefit? Of course not. It's not even a confession at that point.
|
This is the problem. Lying to get a confession places a condition on such a confession that could easily render it invalid in court. A confession in response to a falsehood I'm sure is easily reduced to meaningless by a good lawyer.
Lies can be used as threats: "You will get the death penalty if you don't confess to being an accomplice. You will be charged for the murder instead. Would you rather a prison term or death row?" What if this person is innocent and doesn't want to die? What if he's been interrogated to exhaustion? What if they're afraid? What if it were impossible to actually do this, charge the suspect for the murder? Lies can be coercive and should invalidate any information derived from them.
__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
|