A confession can win a case, but how that confession was obtained may matter just as much. In this article, retired homicide detective and interview instructor Jon Rappa breaks down what defense attorneys should look for in interrogation videos, including officer-fed details, implied promises of leniency, coercive language, and how juries perceive detectives on camera. Learn why modern police interviews, bodycam footage, and recorded interrogations require a closer...
Themes Do Not Cause False Confessions Do Themes Cause False Confessions? The Research Says No By Sgt. Jon Rappa Every now and then someone will say, “Themes cause false confessions.” You may hear this in court, from a defense attorney, or in academic debates about interrogation practices. It sounds convincing, but the research does not support that claim. Themes, or what I call perspective framing, are simply a...
Most officers want better witness descriptions, but they keep asking the same questions and getting the same surface-level answers. The issue usually isn’t memory. It’s how we’re prompting it. There is a simple shift in questioning that helps witnesses retrieve stronger, more detailed descriptions without leading them or contaminating the narrative. It works because it taps into how memory is actually encoded during emotional or high-stress events. When...