# can cops lie to you

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cops-lie-to-you/714147>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [March 3, 2015, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cops-lie-to-you/714147 "2015-03-03T23:41:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cops-lie-to-you/714147/21 "2015-03-20T16:40:04Z")

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> [@Loach](#):
>
> It’s a really shitty interview that stops with “I did it.” That is the starting point. Then you start asking for specifics. You think that detectives don’t understand that a simple “I did it” will be spun into a false confession by the defense? The key is to get specific information that corroborates the rest of the evidence.

Sure, the _I did it_ is merely a starting point. The next step is to feed details to the accused, so they know what to put in their confession. [Eddie James Lowary](http://www.innocenceproject.org/cases-false-imprisonment/eddie-james-lowery) is an example of such a case. The police forced a false confession from Lowary, then fed him details he needed to make his confession look valid.

[Snap Judgement](https://soundcloud.com/snapjudgment/for-a-crime-he-didnt-commit) just ran a podcast about his case.

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**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-cops-lie-to-you/714147/22 "2015-03-20T17:49:33Z")

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> [@qazwart](#):
>
> Sure, the _I did it_ is merely a starting point. The next step is to feed details to the accused, so they know what to put in their confession. [Eddie James Lowary](http://www.innocenceproject.org/cases-false-imprisonment/eddie-james-lowery) is an example of such a case. The police forced a false confession from Lowary, then fed him details he needed to make his confession look valid.
> 
> [Snap Judgement](https://soundcloud.com/snapjudgment/for-a-crime-he-didnt-commit) just ran a podcast about his case.

Yes out of the thousands of daily police interactions you can bring up individual mistakes up to outright malfeasance. But this thread is not about individual cases. It’s about proper proceedure and the law. There is an active Pit thread for the other. I can only tell you what I have been taught and the procedures I use and have seen used on a daily basis.

I was 12 when the case you cited happened. At least in my jurisdiction nothing like that can happen. All suspect interviews must be on video. No one is feeding information. No one wants to be named in case law. No one wants an interview or evidence thrown out in a suppression hearing. And you may not believe this, but no one wants to put an innocent man in jail.

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