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Melissa Lucio, who has long brown hair and is wearing a white prison uniform, sits behind glass at a prison.
Death Sentences February 24, 2022
How Melissa Lucio Went From Abuse Survivor to Death Row
Why some trauma victims are more likely to take responsibility for crimes, even when they may be innocent.
By Maurice Chammah
Feature January 18, 2022
Anatomy of a Murder Confession
Texas Ranger James Holland became famous for cajoling killers into confessing to their crimes. But did some of his methods — from lying to suspects to having witnesses hypnotized — ensnare innocent people, too?
By Maurice Chammah
Five suspects sit in separate interrogation rooms at a police station in Phoenix, Arizona.
Coronavirus July 20, 2020
Your Zoom Interrogation Is About To Start
COVID-19 is changing how police question suspects and witnesses—for the better, some argue.
By Eli Hager
Christopher Tapp, right, and public defender John Thomas at a hearing at the Bonneville County Courthouse in Idaho that allowed Tapp to leave prison in 2017.
News July 16, 2019
In an Apparent First, Genetic Genealogy Aids a Wrongful Conviction Case
An Idaho man falsely confessed to a 1996 rape and murder.
By Mia Armstrong
Case in Point August 6, 2018
Is There a Right Not to Snitch?
An inmate tests a new patch of constitutional ground.
By Andrew Cohen
Case in Point November 13, 2017
Confess, or “They’ll Fucking Give You the Needle.”
An idle threat, but the teenage suspect confessed.
By Andrew Cohen
Commentary June 12, 2016
For 50 Years, You’ve Had “The Right to Remain Silent”
So why do so many suspects confess to crimes they didn’t commit?
By Samuel Gross and Maurice Possley
Feature May 24, 2016
Nothing But The Truth
A radical new interrogation technique is transforming the art of detective work: Shut up and let the suspect do the talking.
By Robert Kolker
Adam Sirios, left, raises his hand to confirm he was the lone holdout juror, after a mistrial was declared in the murder case against Pedro Hernandez at the Supreme Court in Manhattan on May 8.
Justice Lab May 14, 2015
Untrue Confessions
Experts say that people admit to crimes they didn’t commit. Why did only one juror in the Etan Patz murder case believe them?
By Dana Goldstein and Eli Hager
Davontae Sanford during a court appearance in Detroit in 2010.
News April 14, 2015
Two Confessions
One by a nervous kid. One by a self-styled hit man. A Detroit whodunnit.
By Andrew Cohen
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