Introduction
The Plea and The Confessions are episodes of the PBS documentary series, Frontline, released in 2004 and 2010. Both videos address the topic of wrongful convictions that resulted from flaws in the criminal justice system, particularly those from the so-called “plea deals” and extorted false confessions. The criminal cases described in the documentaries present vexing evidence of a miscarriage of justice that persists in all levels of the conviction process, most notably law enforcement and the judiciary.
Summary
The Confessions covers a decades-long story of four innocent U.S. Navy veterans convicted for a gruesome 1997 crime they did not commit. Their wrongful convictions stem from continuous elicitation of false confessions obtained by a detective who had a record of using extortion and psychological pressure as interrogation techniques. Despite the abundance of exonerating evidence and sworn testimony from the actual perpetrator on the course of the crime, all four individuals of the so-called Norfolk Four were prosecuted and convicted of rape and murder.
The Plea touches upon a troubling issue of relying on plea deals to settle criminal cases, thus waiving the Sixth Amendment right to be tried by the jury of one’s peers. The documentary’s focus revolves around several cases in the U.S. in which four individuals were offered to take a plea bargain to avoid a harsher sentence. The dilemma of considering a plea deal is often surrounded by pressure from the members of the judicial system and severe consequences that affect the defendant’s life beyond the courtroom.
Review and Reaction
Both pieces address several disturbing trends present in the judicial system, particularly direct and indirect coercion of admitting guilt. According to a 2018 report of the National Association of Defense Lawyers, 97.2% of felony defendants opted to plead guilty without exercising their fundamental constitutional right, the jury trial. Such sticking percentage can be explained by the so-called “trial penalty,” a means of pressuring a defendant to concede their right to a trial to avoid a longer sentence or even the death penalty. While it is believed that more trial cases could put a strain on a system, punishing a defendant who opts to go through the jury trial to “set an example” is a renouncement of fairness and justice. Skewing the defendant towards pleading guilty to avoid a harsh sentence simply does not allow for a sober, informed decision. It thus lets down the defendant and the community as a whole.
The coercive aspect is also present in the law enforcement agencies in the very first steps of investigating a crime. In the case of the Norfolk Four, the individuals were pressured into a confession by being put into psychologically intense conditions, particularly hours-long duress and deliberate misinformation. The evidence obtained in such a profoundly questionable manner should not have been viable to use in a trial. This trend calls for a reconsideration of proper protocols for getting a signed confession because the example presented in the documentary fails to deliver justice.
Conclusion
The Plea and The Confessions offer a thorough insight on a plethora of issues a defendant might face while going “through the system.” Watching both investigatory pieces would provide the general audience with a better understanding of the actual course of actions that might take place during the conviction process. The documentaries also highlight the urgent need for reconsidering the usage of a considerably longer sentence as a plea incentive and the means of obtaining a confession.
Reference
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. (2018). The trial penalty: The Sixth Amendment right to trial on the verge of extinction and how to save it.