Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-15
Confessions bv Murderers.

Confessions by Murderers.
Michigan's shocking quadruple muir
der, with the prompt arrest, conviction
and sentence to life imprisonment Of
the three slayers, brings to the point Of
discussion the question of police inqui-
sition after crime, which has just been
brought sharply TO the country's at
tention by the wickersham Crime Com
mission in Especial report. That re-
port condemned undue severity Of ques-
tioning Of prisoners by the police, and
especially the use of force to compel
confessions. In the response to this
criticism police authorities throughout
the country commended that inquisition
Is necessary in the detection of crime
and the identification of criminals.
They did not, however, acknowledge
that torture Is inflicted to coerce pris-
oners into avowals of their crimes. That
is never admitted. To what degree it is
practiced the public is unaware. Per-
haps the third degree" which means
physical as well as mental torment, Is
in vogue In most large cities, where
crimes are numerous and detection is
difficult.
One of the news reports of the Michi-
gan case states: Smith and Black
stone confessed suddenly after they had
denied all day any knowledge Of the
crime. Then Oliver was found at his
job Of sign painter and was arrested.
He was brought into police headquar-
tiers few minutes after the others had
confessed and implicated him in the
crime. Less than ten minutes later he,
too. confessed" AS result of these
confessions all three men were in prison
for life within six hours.
just what happened during that day
Of questioning Of Smith and Blackstone
viii perhaps never be known outside Of
very limited circle. The fact that
several hours were required to bring
the men to the point of confession In
dicates that they were subjected to a
severe questioning. perhaps to some de-
hECC Va t0IkuCAts EG tflAAGC ME1C 90
sured that one Of the men was impli-
Gated. They were. however, no more
certain in that case than in most cases
where prisoners are grilled In the hope
OF bringing them to the point of &C.
knowledgment. Practically sure of their
men, the police persist, trying by re-
peated and varying questions to trap
them into admissions or self-contradic-
lions.
1t cannot be held that the most Sc
we're inquiry, the most protracted and
persistent, Is not 1ustinable in such a
case as that at Ann Arbor--in practi-
calIy all cases where the police are vir-
tually assured Of the guilt Of the men
they are holding. Another case Is in
point ct this moment. At Colorado
Springs a man was arrested on the ac-
cusation OF his daughter for killing her
lover. The news report says "a few
hours later, after intense questioning
he called for clergyman. When none
could be found he broke down and
made his confession-'I did I'll Now
let me rest" Was not that inuuisl-
ton, whatever its degree, fully justif-
able?
In many cases prisoners who have
confessed at the end of intensive ques-
tioning have later repudiated their
avowals and commended that they were
wrung from them by torture. In one
instance of notable local history a pris-
oner was released several years after
conviction when q higher court set
aside his confession on the ground that
it was obtained by duress, and there
was no chance OF conviction without
such an acknowledgment as evidence.
That case was woefully mismanaged by
the District police. They held the pris-
oner tncommunicado for a long period
and applied TO him the most refined
torment short Of physical pain that
could be devised. The confession thus
secured was yalueless, as the courts
decision eventually proved. 1t is the
primary duty of the police to secure
the prisoners's story, in confession If
possible. 1t Is, however. particularly
their duty to establish the guilt Of the
accused person, by means and in terms
that viii Withstand the severest ques-
ton of the court, which must protect
every defendant from dureSs on the
theory that all are innocent until
r1royed guilty.