high-pressure interrogation.
It took four days of questioning and polygraph tests, but eventually Juan began to backtrack on his initial account of the night of Holly’s death, in which he said he’d been at a party near the scene of the crime and seen someone there acting suspiciously. There are many reasons that a suspect like Juan might not be truthful when first questioned by detectives: among other things, he might fear that the truth does not sound believable, or he might suppose that a little lie will allow him to avoid more intensive and unpleasant treatment.But the police, as they often do, tookthe inconsistencies in Juan’s story as a clear sign of guilt and decided to switch to aggressively seeking a confession.Although the polygraphs administered at Reid & Associates, the company that developed the Reid technique, had been inconclusive, the detectives had the polygrapher lie, directly accusing Rivera of raping and murdering Holly.
Rivera immediately became upset and denied involvement in the crime, but the detectives took him back to the Lake County Jail and continued to push for a confession.At around midnight, more than twelve hours after the day’s questioning had begun, Rivera broke down sobbing—crying so hard that he completely soaked his clothes.He wasn’t able to get the words out, but when the sergeant laid into him once again—“Juan, you were in that apartment with Holly Staker, weren’t you?”—Juan nodded.
Over the next few hours Juan would provide the police with a full confession.By 3 a.m., the officers had what they needed and went to type it up.Rivera, left on his own, began to slam his head against the wall.Moved to a padded cell, he fell into an acute psychotic state.The nurse on duty described him as incoherent (in her words, he “sounded like the people who talk in tongues” and was “not in touch with the reality of what was going on around him”).When she checked back a couple of hours later, he had pulled out pieces of his hair and scalp and was curled in a fetal position.
Returning in the early morning, the detectives crouched down on the floor where Juan was lying (still handcuffed and shackled), read him their summary account of his confession, and had him sign at the bottom.
The document, though, was so inconsistent and riddled with factual errors (for example, Juan described Holly as wearing a nightgown) that the State’s Attorney’s Office told the detectives it was unacceptable. The interrogation had to continue.The two detectives, however, were too exhausted to go on, so two new detectives stepped in.
These interrogators focused on “clarifying” the problematic and inconsistent parts of Juan’s first confession.After a few more hours, they got the improved version they wanted, but, unsurprisingly, a number of their inquiries had been highly suggestive.Questions like “She had a multi-colored shirt on, right, Juan?” provide insight into how so many false confessions come to contain specific details about the victim and crime scene.Information that only the real perpetrator could know is often inadvertently (and sometimes deliberately) revealed to a suspect over the course of an investigation.Juan Rivera discussed the crime with no fewer than ten law enforcement personnel over the four days he was interrogated, and on the second day the detectives took him on a “ride along” to the crime scene.Moreover, at least fifteen of the fifty-four purportedly “unique” facts in Juan’s confession had appeared in local newspapers.Lamentably, these are just the types of details that end up being highlighted as strong proof that a confession is genuine.
While a more rigorous interrogation protocol might have made a difference for Juan, he would still have had to contend with investigators’ assumption of guilt. As we’ve seen, once people form an initial impression of someone, they find it hard to change course.This can be problematic when it comes to police
It took four days of questioning and polygraph tests, but eventually Juan began to backtrack on his initial account of the night of Holly’s death, in which he said he’d been at a party near the scene of the crime and seen someone there acting suspiciously. There are many reasons that a suspect like Juan might not be truthful when first questioned by detectives: among other things, he might fear that the truth does not sound believable, or he might suppose that a little lie will allow him to avoid more intensive and unpleasant treatment.But the police, as they often do, tookthe inconsistencies in Juan’s story as a clear sign of guilt and decided to switch to aggressively seeking a confession.Although the polygraphs administered at Reid & Associates, the company that developed the Reid technique, had been inconclusive, the detectives had the polygrapher lie, directly accusing Rivera of raping and murdering Holly.
Rivera immediately became upset and denied involvement in the crime, but the detectives took him back to the Lake County Jail and continued to push for a confession.At around midnight, more than twelve hours after the day’s questioning had begun, Rivera broke down sobbing—crying so hard that he completely soaked his clothes.He wasn’t able to get the words out, but when the sergeant laid into him once again—“Juan, you were in that apartment with Holly Staker, weren’t you?”—Juan nodded.
Over the next few hours Juan would provide the police with a full confession.By 3 a.m., the officers had what they needed and went to type it up.Rivera, left on his own, began to slam his head against the wall.Moved to a padded cell, he fell into an acute psychotic state.The nurse on duty described him as incoherent (in her words, he “sounded like the people who talk in tongues” and was “not in touch with the reality of what was going on around him”).When she checked back a couple of hours later, he had pulled out pieces of his hair and scalp and was curled in a fetal position.
Returning in the early morning, the detectives crouched down on the floor where Juan was lying (still handcuffed and shackled), read him their summary account of his confession, and had him sign at the bottom.
The document, though, was so inconsistent and riddled with factual errors (for example, Juan described Holly as wearing a nightgown) that the State’s Attorney’s Office told the detectives it was unacceptable. The interrogation had to continue.The two detectives, however, were too exhausted to go on, so two new detectives stepped in.
These interrogators focused on “clarifying” the problematic and inconsistent parts of Juan’s first confession.After a few more hours, they got the improved version they wanted, but, unsurprisingly, a number of their inquiries had been highly suggestive.Questions like “She had a multi-colored shirt on, right, Juan?” provide insight into how so many false confessions come to contain specific details about the victim and crime scene.Information that only the real perpetrator could know is often inadvertently (and sometimes deliberately) revealed to a suspect over the course of an investigation.Juan Rivera discussed the crime with no fewer than ten law enforcement personnel over the four days he was interrogated, and on the second day the detectives took him on a “ride along” to the crime scene.Moreover, at least fifteen of the fifty-four purportedly “unique” facts in Juan’s confession had appeared in local newspapers.Lamentably, these are just the types of details that end up being highlighted as strong proof that a confession is genuine.
While a more rigorous interrogation protocol might have made a difference for Juan, he would still have had to contend with investigators’ assumption of guilt. As we’ve seen, once people form an initial impression of someone, they find it hard to change course.This can be problematic when it comes to police
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