WHEN IS A CONFESSION NOT A CONFESSION?….In the Washington Post today, we learn of a case in which three women were arrested for murder based on the mistaken idea that they had withdrawn money from a bank using the victim’s ATM card:
Virginia and Shirley Shelton said they were questioned intermittently for about seven hours by Prince George’s detectives at the Sierra Vista [Arizona] police station April 22.
….While the three detectives — Ben Hollowell, Robert J. Frankenfield and Sean Chaney — were in Arizona, a detective in Prince George’s, Marc Alexander, prepared an affidavit that was given to a Maryland court commissioner, who then issued arrest warrants. In the sworn statement, Alexander said that, under questioning, the suspects had admitted to using the victim’s card.
Why would the Sheltons and Starkey make such confessions when, as later became clear, they had not used the card?
For anyone who wonders why I believe that all police interrogations should be videotaped from beginning to end, read this story to find out.
