NCJ Number
93092
Date Published
1982
Length
18 pages
Annotation
Police-fabricated confessions are widespread in New South Wales (Australia), and the failure to enact legislation to counter the practice constitutes suport of criminal hypocrisy.
Abstract
A Sydney-based group called the Campaign Against Legal Malpractice conducted surveys to determine the extent and patterns of the police use of 'verbals' (police-fabricated confessions). The first survey was conducted among 107 inmates at Sydney's Long Bay Central Industrial Prison. Survey data indicated that 53 percent of the inmates claimed that verbals had been used to convict them. Most indicated that either unsigned records of interview or other unsigned notes and oral evidence were used for the alleged fabrications. The complaints against the use of verbals were most prevalent in drug-related offenses and armed robbery cases. Certain detectives' names appeared repeatedly in the inmates' claims of fabricated confessions. Unsigned confessions should be considered prima facie false. They should require independent proof (not that of another police officer). The taping of interviews is another corrective option. Those who refuse to act either through legislative or judicial modes are indicting themselves in the crimes of conspiracy to pervert and obstruct justice. Public pressure is needed to force action in dealing with this corruption of justice. Seven notes are listed.