Kids, Cops, and Confessions by Barry C. Feld

Author:Barry C. Feld
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: New York University Press
Published: 2013-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

II. Miranda and Case Processing

How does a juvenile’s decision to waive or invoke Miranda affect how a court handles his or her case? Theoretically, defendants enjoy the protections of the Due Process model—an adversarial system—in which they may invoke procedural safeguards and force the state to prove its case. In reality, the justice system much more closely resembles the Crime Control model, in which confessions lead to guilty pleas. A confession creates “a strong disincentive for the suspect—who has already incriminated himself in the most damning of ways—to take his case to trial and risk being convicted of the most serious possible charges and receiving the harshest possible punishment.”60 As one officer explained, “If you get a good solid statement from them, the likelihood of having to go to court and to take other people through that process, such as witnesses, is almost nonexistent. We don’t go to court on juvenile cases. I think that is maybe a testament to the fact that 85% or more give confessions. That coupled with the physical evidence and witnesses’ statements pretty much locks them in.”

A confession greatly tilts the balance of advantage in favor of the state.61 Defendants who confess have less plea-negotiation leverage than do those who remain silent. Research on adults indicates that suspects who confess seldom have a jury trial and receive fewer plea concessions than do suspects who do not make a statement.62 Prosecutors charge offenders who confess with a greater number of and with more serious crimes, set higher bail, offer fewer charge reductions, and dismiss fewer charges than against those who remain silent.63 One study reported that “[d]efendants who confessed were more likely to be convicted—and more likely to be convicted of more serious charges—than those who did not.”64 Defense attorneys may pressure a client who confesses to accept a guilty plea to avoid the risks of trial and a harsher sentence.65

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