False Confessions Predict a Delay Between Release From Incarceration and Official Exoneration
Persistent URL
Author(s)
Scherr, Kyle C.
Normile, Christopher J.
Date Issued
February 2022
Abstract
Objectives: Little empirical research has examined postconviction processes associated with the unique legal events of release from incarceration and official exoneration. Across various models, we tested the influence of risk factors associated with wrongful convictions (false confessions, faulty or misleading forensic evidence, inadequate legal defense, mistaken eyewitness identifications, official misconduct, and perjury) and relevant alternative factors (e.g., presence of DNA, false guilty pleas, and race) on the exoneration process, with a particular focus on the role of false confessions. Hypotheses: We expected that all risk factors would be meaningfully associated with the duration between wrongful conviction and release but that false confessions would be associated with longer delays between release and exoneration and would remain a meaningful predictor of the delay even when accounting for alternative factors. Method: Using data from documented exonerations of murder, attempted murder, and accessory to murder in the National Registry of Exonerations (N = 1,074), we examined the association of risk factors and alternative predictors with the time between exonerees' wrongful conviction and release from incarceration and the time between release from incarceration and official exoneration. Results: Overall, five of the six risk factors predicted the time between wrongful conviction and release from incarceration, but of the risk factors, only false confessions predicted the time between release and exoneration (d = 0.28; 95% CI [0.13, 0.43]), even when we controlled for relevant alternative factors (d = 0.29; 95% CI [0.14, 0.43]). Conclusions: Exonerations that involve false confessions are associated with delays in the critical window between innocent people's release and official exoneration-a time during which these innocent people are precluded from accessing reintegration aids and may struggle to find housing and employment. Public Significance Statement Among individuals exonerated of wrongful convictions, those whose cases involved a false confession face longer delays between release from incarceration and official exoneration compared to those whose cases did not involve a false confession. The delay to becoming officially exonerated is important because during this time, individuals may be unable to access financial help, housing assistance, job training, and medical and psychological care.
Journal
Law and Human Behavior
Department
Psychology
Citation
Scherr, Kyle C. and Christopher J. Normile. "False Confessions Predict a Delay between Release from Incarceration and Official Exoneration." Law and Human Behavior 46, no. 1 (Feb, 2022): 67-80. doi:10.1037/lhb0000479. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000479
Publisher
Educational Publishing Foundation-American Psychology Assoc.
Version of Article
Published article
DOI
10.1037/lhb0000479
ISSN
0147-7307
1573-661X
Rights
© 2022 American Psychological Association
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
2022_Normile_FalseCP.pdf
Size
107.37 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
1c9a60570ae3aef22cba5cb38923b1a5
Name
2022_02_01_Normile_False.pdf
Description
For administrative access only. Please visit the publisher's website to obtain a copy of the article. Members of the Allegheny College community should search for the article in AggreGator to obtain access.
Size
685.05 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
e11ef943e0179615270b9aff92cc52da