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: Grits for Breakfast

Would you confess to a crime you didn't commit to save your life?

By Gritsforbreakfast

Christopher Ochoa did in 1988 in Austin, and accused an innocent friend of being an accomplice after long bouts of questioning and threats of the death penalty. (The man who he accused of being an accomplice, Richard Danziger, was tragically beaten in prison to the point that he suffered brain damage and today is in his family's guardianship.)The Dallas News today had an excellent feature interviewing Ochoa, now out of prison and a criminal defense attorney practicing in Wisconsin.Doc Berman over at the Sentencing Law and Policy blogs says the death penalty is an "effective plea bargaining tool," but to me here's an example of what he means in practice. If you threaten to kill somebody, they may admit to anything, but I'm not sure that's so "effective" as it just makes wrongful confessions more likely.continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on February 24, 2008 (boomark / email).