Police used fake DNA reports during interrogations

https://apnews.com/article/science-crime-police-virginia-forensics-310f0717caeae7a2dc76404f77845f18

by SQL2219 • 5 years ago

35 20 5 years ago

apnews.com

notch656a2• 5 years ago

The police are allowed to lie to you (non-crime). You aren't allowed to lie to them (crime). This isn't news.

salawat• 5 years ago

Maybe not to you, but there are a lot of youth who never get filled in on that fact.

friendlydog• 5 years ago

"and in at least one instance, a forged report was presented to a court as evidence" perjury is absolutely news.

ttfkam2• 5 years ago

The number of cops testifying on the stand who are never charged with perjury would likely astound you.

And the number of submitted police reports that clearly contradict reality.

jjulius• 5 years ago

That disparity may not be news, but perhaps it is worth discussing.

nocturnial2• 5 years ago

This might be true in the US but in some other countries the police aren't allowed to lie.

rPlayer65542• 5 years ago

In some other countries the police are allowed to use physical force during interrogations. So what is your point?

refurb• 5 years ago

Which countries?

Canada: Yes

Australia: Yes

UK: looks like cant lie about evidence?

avidiax• 5 years ago

The distinction here is that this lie is so coercive that it's unethical to allow any confession or evidence following it.

What would you do if you don't have money for a lawyer, and the police say that your unassailable DNA evidence was found on a now-dead acquaintance of yours, and your options are confess to the murder and get 10 years with opportunity for parole, or fight and get life?

Even if you knew that the police can lie, know you are innocent but can't prove it, and you believe that the DNA test is real or the police are willing to fake it, you might confess b/c that's the best option.

physicsyogi• 5 years ago

Lying to local (and state?) police is legal (I think). Lying to federal LEOs is a crime.

angusiasty• 5 years ago

This is unacceptable... Why people agree to this.

atoav• 5 years ago

Because it very likely won't happen to them — or so they think

fizzpack• 5 years ago

Reminds me of a scene in the Wire where they convince the kid that the photocopy machine is a lie detector

vgeek• 5 years ago

"The bigger the lie, the more they believe."

pyuser583• 5 years ago

This is scary, because if you’re innocent (the DNA isn’t yours, and you know it), the police are saying “we can and will create fake evidence to convict you.”

Plenty of innocent people would confess at that point.

ttfkam2• 5 years ago

Plenty of innocent people have. And many states permanently strip voting rights if you are convicted of (plead guilty to) a felony. So the folks most likely to have been adversely affected by this cannot take part in elections to fix the problem.

Check out public defender Twitter. It's a real eye-opener. Police officers still on the force but put on DA lists to never call because they've lied so often on the stand that even the judges know automatically they're full of it. (Almost never charged with perjury though.) Judges constantly handing out bail for minor offenses they know the defendant can't hope to pay even though they aren't a flight risk. DAs regularly withholding exculpatory evidence until just before a trial date in the hopes the (innocent) person agrees to a plea deal while they rot in holding for months.

Threatening to fake DNA evidence is just the tip of the iceberg.

Police used fake DNA reports during interrogations

Related Stories