False confessions may lead to more errors in evidence, a study shows
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - 08:31
in Psychology & Sociology
A man with a low IQ confesses to a gruesome crime. Confession in hand, the police send his blood to a lab to confirm that his blood type matches the semen found at the scene. It does not. The forensic examiner testifies later that one blood type can change to another with disintegration. This is untrue. The newspaper reports the story, including the time the man says the murder took place. Two witnesses tell the police they saw the woman alive after that. The police send them home, saying they must have seen a ghost. After 16 years in prison, the falsely convicted man is exonerated by DNA evidence.