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False Confessions

Just Say You’re Sorry June 5, 2023
When a Conviction is Challenged, What Do We Owe the Victim’s Family?
In the final episode of “Just Say You’re Sorry,” we consider what cases like Larry Driskill’s mean for families like Bobbie Sue Hill’s.
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Just Say You’re Sorry May 29, 2023
As a Texas Ranger Gains National Fame, His Interrogations Draw Skepticism
James Holland’s star rises after he coaxes killer Samuel Little to confess to 90 murders. But his work in Larry Driskill’s case comes into question.
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Just Say You’re Sorry May 22, 2023
An All-Night, Pizza-Fueled Interrogation. A Dubious Confession. A DNA Surprise.
Hear Texas Ranger James Holland use familiar tactics to convince another man to confess to a murder he vehemently denies. But this time, there’s DNA.
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Just Say You’re Sorry May 15, 2023
Listen as a Texas Ranger Uses Lies to Extract a Questionable Murder Confession
Hear how James Holland gradually convinces Larry Driskill to question his own memory — and narrate a murder he still insists he didn’t commit.
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A police sketch of a face on a cream background layered on top of court documents
Just Say You’re Sorry May 8, 2023
To Solve a Young Mother’s Death, a Celebrated Texas Ranger Turns to Hypnosis
In Episode 2 of “Just Say You’re Sorry,” we dig into Ranger James Holland’s past and follow the twists and turns that lead him to Larry Driskill.
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A sheriff hat and badge on a cream-colored background that includes a document from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Just Say You’re Sorry May 1, 2023
In a Texas Cold Case, a Potential Murder Witness Slowly Realizes He’s a Suspect
In ‘Just Say You’re Sorry,’ a new Marshall Project podcast, we meet a famed Texas Ranger and a prisoner who says he was railroaded.
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A podcast logo set atop a tan and black background. In the logo, a tan cowboy hat with a Texas Ranger badge floats in front of prison bars. Above, in all caps: "Smoke Screen" and "Just say you're sorry." Below, branding for Sony Music and The Marshall Project.
Just Say You’re Sorry April 26, 2023
‘Just Say You’re Sorry’: Podcast Dissects Famed Texas Ranger’s Controversial Tactics
Our six-part podcast asks if Texas’ “serial killer whisperer” ensnared an innocent man through tactics like lying and hypnosis.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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