Convictions set aside in the case of three Long Island men charged with a 1984 rape and murder were built on a foundation of testimony from jailhouse informants, a confession that was allegedly coerced by police, a 20-second recording and two hairs from the victim.
The case has again highlighted the phenomenon of false or coerced confessions.
“Cases like this, which are based on confessions – particularly where the interrogation isn’t videotaped and there is no corroboration – are troubling,” said Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project of the Benjamin Cardozo Law School. He told Newsday there were false confessions in 23 percent of the cases the project has handled involving wrongly accused defendants.